


Little Nightmares One-Shots

by ProblematicLucario



Category: Little Nightmares (Video Game)
Genre: (You can and should skip those though if that isn't something that appeals to you), ALL OF IT M I G H T BE HAPPENING, ALSO I AM A MAJOR THINMAN SIMP IN ALL HIS FORMS, Additional information in the first chapter, Also a lot of interaction between ThinMono and Six in specific, And each chapter will have their individual warnings, Because I think it's a lot of fun and has potential, Breaking Up & Making Up, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Enemies to Lovers, F/F, F/M, Fix-It, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, How Do I Tag, However I just want to clear up that this is:, I recommend you to read it if you're unsure, I will try my best to update them as things do appear!, I'm generally a fluffy person though, Multi, One Shot Collection, Regret, So check the author notes on top of every chapter!, So if you want to see anything else that HIM do request!, THINMAN IS NO LONGER KING OF SIMPS- I AM, Tags Are Hard, Tags May Change, The majority will be cute stuff though, To clarify: each chapter will vary WILDLY in tone, WARNING: THERE WILL CAN BE ALL TYPES OF TRIGGERING CONTENT, alternative universe, requests open
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-13 18:20:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 53,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29905167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProblematicLucario/pseuds/ProblematicLucario
Summary: There are SO many possibilities for the Little Nightmare's universe, SO many scenarios- I simply cannot decide what to write.SO I DECIDED TO WRITE IT ALL! This is a one-shot book for different AUs, different play outs for scenarios, some canon compliant, some canon divergent, hell, even the character's personalities can vary wildly depending on what I feel like writing! My goal is to write something for everyone to be honest, I'd love to get a little bit of everything in this One-Shot book! (For now it's just soft stuff though)I TAKE REQUESTS! I LIKE REQUESTS!More to that in the first chapter (also info to the ""rules"" and warnings. That shit's important)! But basically, I'd love to write your interpretations and ideas, as long as it's not some multi-chapter epos, that's for YOU to write ;3Hope you'll enjoy!
Relationships: Mono/Six (Little Nightmares), The Lady/The Thin Man (Little Nightmares)
Comments: 190
Kudos: 138





	1. Why hello there!

First chapter, the basics!  
  
I have done this before, I will do this again, but here I go!  
Welcome to my one-shot book!  
Requests are open at any time, but here are things I want you to keep in mind!  
  
I’ll write basically everything. I will write different canons, I will write AUs, I will write tooth-rotting fluff and I’ll write deeply disturbing and problematic shit, just ask! Yes, this does count OCs, but be aware I will want a VERY detailed personality/appearance/situation description before I even consider writing, because I'm anxious about fucking something up.  
(Note: I might not write certain stuff based on me being unable to imagine it or uncomfortable. But that is not a problem with your request, but just with my comfort. It's okay to have comfort boundaries!)  
There is only one thing I won’t be writing right from the bat and that’s actual NSFW. I can’t do it, I’m sorry, it’s a personal preference of mine, but I found suggestive stuff does the same job (but better) anyways.  
For my main AU it might be good to know that I operate under the canon that both Mono and Six meet and defeat their older self, just to grow into them- but again, I welcome to write anything you ask for, just be specific!  
 **ALSO VERY SPECIFIC WARNING HERE:  
MONO AS THINMAN WILL NOT TREATED DIFFERENTLY AS HIS CHILD SELF. I DO NOT SEE THE THIN MAN AS AN ACTUAL ADULT. JUST LIKE MONSTER SIX, THIN MAN IS SIMPLY NORMAL MONO, DISTORTED BY THE SIGNAL TOWER. HE FEELS AND THINKS THE SAME AS HE USED TO, ONLY PARTS OF HIS EMOTIONS HEIGHTENED- JUST LIKE MONSTER SIX’S AGGRESSION.  
THIS IS IMPORTANT, BECAUSE OF THE WAY I WILL WRITE HIS INTERACTIONS WITH SIX.**  
I know things like this can be WILDLY upsetting to some people regardless of it being an AU and them being fictional and I don’t want anyone to stumble over a chapter that can cause pain or anger on accident, so take this here as your warning- **EVERY chapter will note what it contains** though as well.  
  
Here is a good point to note that the drabbles I already put up are probably an… acquired taste. Lots of weird and specific stuff. I don’t recommend reading it unless the summary at the top of the chapter REALLY appeals to you.  
Request and you will get what YOU want to see!  
  
As implied before, this book will have plenty of dead dove: do not eat.  
Since not every chapter will be such however, I will add a trigger warning each chapter individually as I see fit. If there’s something I’m missing, point it out to me so I can fix it.  
 _I don’t want anyone to stumble over a chapter that contains something that would deeply upset them on accident.  
_ Speaking off, criticism is 100% welcome. While I might not take it, I do like getting feedback of all sort! Praise, scorn, just general feelings about the chapter, it makes me very happy!  
Talk to me, I answer any comment I get and it really fuels me!   
I’m not a native English speaker though, so please go easy on me when it comes to grammar, I’m a bit of a dult when it comes to that.  
  
Oh, also, an exception will be any sort of rudeness. Of course I won’t answer that and I don’t tolerate it towards myself or anyone else on this book. It will be swiftly deleted.  
Questions are fine, but I’m not taking insults.  
  
I think that covers all! If I forgot something, I might add it to this chapter later on, but for now I can only say:  
 **  
ENJOY THE SHOW!**


	2. Theory/Character Personality Hub!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to ignore this too, as this is just me giving context to all non-requested drabbles that I write.  
> Please do give me your versions and theories too though, if you feel like it!

Reality:  
The Reality of Little Nightmares is not quite as important to me, but for the sake of this I’ll hand you my crackpot theory that this is a post-rapture world, where god snatched up all the good people and left behind all the bad.  
Meaning the children are also all kinda evil by nature.  
Now demons try to reclaim the human realm.  
(Note that I don’t think it’s actual canon, that is just what I started saying is “canon”, because actual canon gave us FUCKALL about WHY the place was the way it was or WHY there was an eyeball monster or W H Y -)  
  
The cliffnotes are:  
The world is real (for my main AU. There will be alternative AUs).  
Shit’s fucked up yo.  
Surviving IS possible, but you gotta go through major and vile changes both inside and outside to do it, making all living adults rather appalling creatures.  
The loop exists is actually being upheld by Six/The Lady in a gamble for immortality and to prevent reality from fully becoming lifeless. Sometimes Six is aware of it, sometimes she is not, but the Geisha keeps a very watchful eye on all the keyparts that ensure the loop happening. (Yeah, my AU is pretty specific)  
  
  
Characters:  
  
Six:  
I project kinda a lot on Six, even if I headcanon her to be the opposite of me in most ways.  
She’s energetic, intelligent to a point of being brutally cunning, she’s ruthless and mean, but there’s just something about her extroverted nature that makes being aggressive forgivable. If she could, she would be as loud as possible, sing and dance and stomp her feet and provoke and fight- but there’s no way to do this in the current world. So with all her energy trapped, aggression is the last resort for her to relieve herself.  
She likes hurting things. It makes her feels secure and powerful.  
  
Mono:  
Very sweethearted, to a point of being the biggest fool around. He sees something and thinks “ah yes, I have to do something in response”, which honestly isn’t for the best.  
You could have build yourself a fort for protection and Mono would wreck it in a misguided attempt to save you- and if he mistakes you for an enemy, you better pray you can get away fast enough, because he has no hesitation or consideration when it comes to eradicate his enemy.  
He sees something and doesn’t think.  
“I HAD to do it”, would be his response to burning the doctor, killing the ThinMan and destroying the music box.  
 _“I thought I HAD to.”  
_ At least his conscious is always clear, making him a sunny person to be around, despite everything.  
  
Lady:  
Grown up Six indeed!  
Having turned out very different after submitting to her lowest impulses and feeding on her older self, the Lady is hardly recognizable from who she used to be.  
As soon as she began eating, her soul fused into one again- and Six gained all the knowledge the Lady had managed to gather from this and previous lives.  
The Loop is their way of immortality and in some twisted way the only way to keep reality afloat, as it's pretty much the act of turning back time. If they don’t do it, everything will probably die.  
So, doing anything for her survival, Six begins taking over the duties as the Geisha of the Maw, being alluring, entertaining and graceful, while controlling the giant “boat” that the place had become, moving from place to place to avoid her own shadow, the terrible deeds that it took to get this far.  
Deep down she’s as agressive, childish and impatient as she used to be, but on top of that bitter and resentful, hating humans and herself and thinks everyone is an animal deep down, waiting to be unleashed when the right buttons are pushed.  
  
ThinMan:  
Grown up Mono, guaranteed!  
The only kind adult in the entire game. Yeah, I get it, it’s not what little nightmares is about, BUT THIS IS MY AU, I GET TO MAKE MYSELF FEEL FUZZY AND NICE.  
He just wants to make things right and mainly hates himself, fully believing Six dropped him because he failed her. In an attempt of escaping insanity he kept rationalizing Six’s behavior over and over until he believed his own lies about the events and found purpose once more, this time in “doing the right thing”.  
Knowing how truly fragile and weak she is from his memory, he desperately tries to find her to whisk her away to safety- _  
Or at least he tries to tell himself that.  
_ Deep down he just cannot bear his loneliness any longer and he wants his best friend back by his side, at any cost. He believes this time around things will be different and he can offer Six what he had took away before- safety, security, peace of mind… so that this time they can stay together.  
He might be physically an adult, but I don’t think sitting locked up in a tiny room for decades makes a child into an adult, so he might be acting exactly like he used to at times. (Seriously. Why are people not acknowledging how severe trauma would fuck up your maturing process? Just casually depicting him as a functioning adult? Don't get me wrong, I like it, but if we're being real here, for all he knows, he's still the same old Mono, but long and depressed)  
  
Runaway Kid:  
Anxiety-ridden and distrustful.  
There’s only one thing he relies on and that’s himself!  
 _… and the twenty gnomes he had adopted._  
He is VERY empathetic, but it’s something that really hurts him too. Seeing people suffer drives him nuts, and he could never imagine attacking ANYONE outside of extreme fear and with no other choice.  
He loves water! Or at least did, until he had to escape and kill the Granny, something he still feels terrible about, even if he knows he had been in the right.  
The main way of dealing with stuff is repression for him. Moving forward. Running away.  
  
Raincoat Girl:  
Level-headed, bordering on shy. Very crafty, but being prone to bad luck.  
  
The Janitor:  
The caretaker of the children. Despite what he does to them, he cares about them in his own way, creating dolls and playthings for them.  
He's quiet, not directly tired, but somewhat apathetic towards the other adults, including the Lady and he enjoys mostly being by himself where nobody judges him for his (even for this world) odd behaviors.  
  
The Doctor:  
He's a damn good doctor. And despite his surface behavior, he does like kids- he just likes doing his job more.  
If possible, he likes to use anything living to experiment and will keep it alive at any cost, thinking that he's doing good with these deeds and finding a "cure", for what isn't quite clear.  
  
The Teacher (courtesy to a kind Anon commenter named Solaris):  
"I have some headcanons for the teacher. Despite their crude behavior, she genuinely loves her students and children as well. She just has a short temper and a very strict teaching method. Despite everything, she would do anything to teach children again even if it means keeping them there against their will."  
Taking it, thank you ;3

  
  
  
For the majority of the monsters I have no personality made up, just little traits they seem to have in-game, outside of being murderous and scary.  
I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it or take your guy’s suggestions!


	3. Therapy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Six and Mono get captured by the Doctor.  
> However, instead of killing the critters, he decides to test his newest and most daring new concept-
> 
> T h e r a p y .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No warnings, honestly, if you discount bad psychotherapy and Six being a destructive gremlin!  
> Nobody gets harmed, which is the entire point, because being captured by an enemy makes me feel like HECK, so I wrote this to calm myself down.
> 
> SLIGHT MONO/SIX  
> Also: In this AU Six is VERY aware of the loop. *Perhaps even the cause of it...*

This… wasn’t going well.  
Maybe it had been Six’s bright yellow raincoat.  
Maybe it had been Mono’s wide mask.  
_Maybe it was the god-awful hiding place of DIRECTLY UNDER THE DAMN HOSPITAL BEDS-_  
Either way though, they had been picked up out of nowhere and taken away by the doctor-  
  
Just to be put down in the waiting room, tied up against a chair.  
  
Both of them were sitting besides each other staring forward, trying to come up with a plan.  
Six was jumping up and down, trying to get the chair she was sitting on to move- and Mono watched her curiously, joining in for a little, just to realize it was rather pointless.  
These chairs were bolted down.  
Instead he looked around on high alert, hoping to see something else that could help-  
_Before anything could show up though, the doctor’s noises came closer, clanking and clattering, rummaging around on the ceiling-  
_And then the doors opened and the creature approached, transfixed on its prisoners.  
More panicked Mono looked over to Six again, knowing that if they didn’t do something fast, REALLY fast, they would be in a world of hurt. Perhaps a very small “patient”, made out of plastic and steel-  
Next to him Six got ready, her jaw clenched.  
_Oh god, she would try to bite this thing.  
_Well-  
_It was better than nothing, right? Better than just rolling over and dying…_  
However-  
That was not what happened.  
Instead the doctor placed down something else in front of them, a big mechanical- thing. A lamp was glowing from inside of it, throwing a yellow rectangle against the wall.  
Fearful Mono glimpsed at his friend, who stared back just as worried.  
What was this going to be?  
What was the plan?  
Would they be shown terrible images?  
Tortured with noises and visuals?!  
Would they-  
A raspy, old voice sounded.  
It sounded like smoke and toxins, weakened but firm in its intonation.  
_“… stupid brats… running around… getting everything messy…”_ It was clear, but not directed at the two friends sitting in front of him. _“… I’ll be… fixing that for good…”_  
Terrified Six began moving again, trying to free herself before the doctor could do anything to her brain, but-  
_“STOP IT. Stop it. Settle down. You two, we will have a therapy session.”  
_It was silent.  
Finally Mono spoke up.  
“A… what?”  
_“A therapy session. I developed the concept. It will give me insight into your psyche and in turn, I’ll be able to determine why you are acting so abhorrently and how to make you stop.”_ Leaning over the projector, he clicked in an image of a blob of ink. _“I will need your cooperation, or I will get to your brain the **other** way. Understood?”  
_Mono nodded-  
Six however didn’t seem as pleased.  
“… what kind of ‘fixing’ are you talking about?! You are going to lock us up!”  
_“Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe all you need is some hugs.”_  
Six shuddered. “No. I think I would rather-“  
“ME AND MY FRIEND WILL ANSWER!”  
“ _Good_.” He turned back to them. “ _What do you see on there?_ ”

  
  
Unenthusiastic Six stared forward, leaving Mono to scramble and try to answer.  
“Uh. A stain?”  
_“No. No. Try to see something else in it. A form, or a thing.”  
_“Uhhhhh…” Trying even harder, Mono stared forward. “… a rabbit, trying to run into the bushes?”  
_“Interesting. Interesting. Now you!”_ Aggressively he pointed at Six, who seemed unimpressed.  
“A maw.”  
Confused Mono turned a little to her. “How… do you see a mouth in that?”  
“Well, it’s like- a big mouth, opening to the sides! It’s frowning, the lips are chapped.” Trying to use her hands, Six attempted to give her explanation more validity. “It’s not THAT hard to spot. How did you see a rabbit?!”  
“The ears are up there, with the small head poking out of the bushes and the hindlegs-“  
“ _Enough_.” The doctor interrupted, putting down the next inkblob. _“What do you see here.”_  
  
  
  
“Oh, that’s- that’s an angel! I think. I once saw something like this in a book! It looks kinda cool!”  
_“And you?”  
_“A maw.” Six answered just as unenthusiastic as before. “The thing in the middle is a spiky tongue.”  
_“Hm. Hm, hm. Last one.”_  
  
  
_  
__“What do you see?”_  
Fascinated Mono leaned forwards.  
“I think… it could be a lady! She’s sitting in front of a dresser- but it kinda looks like an anchor too.”  
This time, Six didn’t have to be prompted to answer, her voice was almost monotone.  
“ ** _The Maw_**.”  
_“I feel like you are messing with me, kid. I told you before, uncooperative-”_  
“Well, sorry doc, but you told me to say what I see. Not my fault what I see!”  
For a moment it was quiet, tense-  
Then the doctor huffed, turning around to projector, deactivating it.  
_“Moving on from that. Next step of my psychological assessment, I need to ask you a series of questions. Are you ready?”  
_Six snarled.  
“What if I say no?”  
_“Good. Question number one. Would you open an envelope that has the date of your death inside?”_  
Mono shuddered. “No. That would be- kinda messed up.”  
Six just grinned. “Yeah. And I would make sure a knife is in reach, so that I can prove the stupid envelope wrong.”  
“Six!”  
“What? I will not let an envelope tell me how to live my life!”  
The doctor disregarded them. _“Question two: Would you be friends with yourself?”_  
“ ** _No_**.”  
Two voices sounded in a chorus.  
No elaboration.  
“ _Question three: If you could see a measuring scale above people’s heads, what would you want this scale to measure? Their status in society, their level of happiness, their wealth or something else?_ ”  
“What kind of stupid question is this?” Mono frowned.  
“Their body count.” Six answered.  
“Wh-what?”  
**_“I want to make sure I am at the top at all times.”_**  
“Six!” Upset he stared, before realizing he still had to answer. “A measuring scale- _I think- good deeds?_ That would be nice-“  
“I would have an absolute zero above my head. No, negative-“  
“THAT’S NOT TRUE SIX. YOU DID LOTS OF NICE THINGS FOR ME!”  
“Hah, you WISH.”  
“ _Question four: What do you do differently from other people?”_  
“… nothing really… hey, these questions are getting kinda-“  
“I actually survive. So far, everyone I met just dropped dead. _Like losers_. Oh, also I eat bananas WITH peel.”  
“SIX.”  
“ _Question five: Do you ever get the feeling that the current day has been repeated 100 times?”_  
Abruptly it was silent once more.  
Six had stopped kicking her legs, she had stopped moving at all.  
Mono noticed it, but couldn’t come up with a reason why she would act like this- did Six see something? A way to escape?  
The doctor looked up from his sheet as the answer didn’t come.  
“ _Well_?”  
Slowly Mono shook his head. “I- don’t think this day has repeated at all. Really, I never have experienced anything like today.”  
For a moment longer Six didn’t say anything.  
Then she looked up.  
“I feel like I am stuck in a loop sometimes. Hundred doesn’t even come close to it.”  
Confused Mono frowned, however, the doctor had already moved on.  
_“Question six: If you commit a crime to feed your hungry child, are you a bad person or did you commit the crime out of necessity?”  
_Here Six immediately answered. “Oh, you are still a total criminal.”  
“What?! No! No, if you commit a crime to feed a hungry child, then it’s okay.”  
“I committed many crimes to feed myself and yet people always still freaked out.”  
“Wh-what kind of crimes are we talking about?”  
“Murder, mainly.”  
“S-Six…?”  
_“Last question: If happiness was money, what would your job be?”_  
“Do we- do we even still have such a thing as money? I thought it disappeared when-“  
“Destroying buildings. I get bonuses for creative ways of doing it and every passerby I can turn into a causality.”  
“SIX!”  
The doctor stared down and both of them, then groaned.  
_“Let’s take a break here. Can’t stand to listen to your little pests anymore. And I need time to draw some conclusions. I will be back.”_  
  
With that the big, disgusting creature left once more, as Six and Mono exchanged a look.  
  
“… so- what now?”  
Six shrugged a little. “For now we seem safe.”  
“For now! That won’t last!”  
“We will burn that bridge when we come to it.”  
“That’s- not how the saying goes…”  
Frustrated Mono sighed, but at least they were TALKING now. Usually they ran in complete silence, relying on each other’s intuition to complete the challenges in front of them.  
It had been lonely.  
Mono was glad someone broke this silence.  
However- yet again, his words were stuck in his throat.  
Like a curse, his mouth was dry and useless, any sort of communication died off and it would stay that way until the doctor returned.  
Before that though they sat in silence together, staring up ahead, sometimes twitching and moving inside of the constraints, trying to loosen them up, even the tiniest bit would help in the long run-  
Then the cluttering of hands and feet on a ceiling came closer once more, causing them to abruptly stop.  
  
The doctor moved back in, huffing to himself.  
“ _Alright. This will be it. We will be done after this.”_  
“What… does done mean…?” Concerned Mono responded.  
_“Don’t think about it. It will make your responses less authentic.”_  
“That d-doesn’t sound very reassuring!”  
Looking from the girl in the raincoat to the boy in the mask, the doctor huffed.  
_“… answer this as honestly and accurately as you can. What was your last dream about?”_  
Silently both of them stared up at him.  
As always, Mono was the first one to buckle under the pressure of quiet air.  
“… what… if we can’t remember our last dream?”  
_“Then you can sleep here until you do dream.”_  
“No way!”  
_“Well, then you better remember.”_  
“Urgh, okay, okay…” Pausing he shortly glanced over at Six, who seemed very unhinged once more, her teeth shining from out of the darkness. Poor girl seemed stressed- so maybe talking would help. “… most of the time I dream about… dying.”  
Instantly Six turned her head-  
But she stayed quiet, letting Mono continue.  
“… I- dream a lot about the places I am, and then- something happens. I get attacked, grabbed, I get burned or fall- those are the kind of dreams I dream. Then when I wake up, I’m extra careful around those places.”  
Shortly he paused, wrecking his head.  
“… those are… dreams I have when I- just shortly doze off. I don’t really know how it was like when I last really slept on purpose, but- I think I dreamt about a wide field. It was green and the sky was blue and it was beautiful. There was an apple tree- but I couldn’t get to the fruits, I was too tiny. That was okay though because I- didn’t need any. And I was standing there and enjoying the air, but there was someone- something- behind me. _I wasn’t brave enough to turn around, so I- didn’t_.”  
Another pause, longer this time.  
“… and… sometimes I dream about a door at the end of a hallway. It’s- an important door. I know I need to open it. It’s also in the TV- _it’s everywhere_. I don’t know if that even IS a dream.”  
In this final pause, there was no other noise but the doctor’s loud scrabbling on the paper.  
_“I see. Those are your most recent dreams?”_  
“… yeah.” Embarrassed Mono pulled his hat down further. “… I’m sorry if that’s weird…”  
Nobody reacted, making it even worse.  
He curled up as good as he could while trapped.  
The doctor turned to Six, who wasn’t looking at anyone.  
_“Now you. Or do you need to be brought to a bed first.”_  
“… I don’t dream a lot anymore.”  
Six’s voice was cool, detached.  
“… but I have one. _A very funny one._ Makes me wake up wheezing. A really, really great one.”  
She took a shaking breath.  
“I am big. I stand by a table. It is really nice. I like feeling like this. The table belongs to me. Everything on the table belongs to me. I have pieces and figures and dolls and papers. And then- things change. Because I look to the side and there’s this- hole in the table. The hole is covered by thick glass and dark and I look inside. There is Mono.”  
Instantly Mono sat up again to listen better.  
“… and he… is stuck down there. We look at each other and he recognizes me and he knocks against the glass and I can hear his voice, very muffled. He jumps and reaches and exhausts himself and I start feeling panic, because- because well, he is suffocating in there. He is not getting any air.”  
Six’s fists clenched.  
“… I try to get him out, I try to look under the table if there’s an opening there, I- do what I can, I break my fingernails off at the side of the glass. Mono slowly starts to stop moving and I grab something heavy, not thinking. I break the glass. Shards everywhere. Especially in Mono. That is my fault. There was a lever to open the glass right above me, but I just did not see it. I hold Mono in my hands… and then I put him onto a- silk pillow… and I put another glass over him and keep him there, impaled, barely breathing.”  
Nothing.  
_“… and then I wake up…”_  
Six raised a shoulder, trying to wipe her face with it.  
“… and I laugh. As loud as I can. It is the funniest dream.”  
  
For a few minutes, nothing was said or done.  
Then the doctor grumbled to himself, moving forward and above them, reaching down to Mono who cowered in a panic-  
_Only to be freed to both his and Six’s utter surprise._  
Gently he was placed on the floor.  
_“You seem to be fine. Upstanding. Rampaging the hospital won’t be something you will do again. Coming to the question of why you did it in the first place.”_ Slowly he looked over to Six and approached. _“You. YOU! I have looked at your results over and over! And there is NO other conclusion I can make but that you are a MENACE! A monster! A living NIGHTMARE! NOTHING about you is adhering to the normal standards! SO. **I will have to do some drastic measures with you, a lobotomy will at least keep you from using that head of yours for evil.”**  
_Six’s teeth flashed, and Mono desperately tried to come up with something-  
“NO! NO, LEAVE HER ALONE!” Picking up something out of glass to throw, the boy in the Paperbag got ready. “SHE’S NOT A MENACE! SHE’S MY FRIEND!”  
_“Put that down, child. What is wrong with you. This thing isn’t your friend, it’s a bad influence who will drop you the first chance she gets.”_  
“NO! SHE WON’T! SHE CAUGHT ME A LOT! SHE HELPED ME A LOT!”  
_“You HEARD what she SAID! About her DREAMS!”_  
“THEY’RE JUST DREAMS. AND THEY UPSET HER TOO!”  
_“She said he LAUGHS.”_  
“YOU’RE A TERRIBLE DOCTOR IF YOU DON’T REALIZE SHE WAS LYING!”  
_“You-”_  
“I WILL BURN THIS PLACE DOWN AND KILL ALL YOUR PATIENTS IF YOU DON’T LET HER GO!”  
“ ** _YOU_** -”  
Out of nowhere, Six jumped up, freed from her constrained and rushed over out of the door, temporarily drawing the doctor’s attention away-  
Long enough for Mono to rush the other way, drawing a hateful scream from the doctor, who clearly didn’t know who to hunt for first.  
  
  
When they met again, Mono being abruptly grabbed and drawn into a vent, the boy was crying.  
Everything about this had upsetted him.  
Everything about this had been bad.  
Six looked at him concerned, seemingly unsure of what- if anything- to say.  
At least she leaned down, to offer her hand-  
Which promptly was grabbed.  
Instead of pulling himself up however, he pulled Six down, tightly hugging her, shaking with his entire body.  
_“… please talk to me, Six.”  
“… I do not have a lot to say.”_  
“Anything- anything will do. I’m begging you.”  
For a moment Six looked at him, then curled up a little, wrapping around him.  
“This… is a story about… a ship on the sea. The ship is… really lonely. Because the sea is big and there are not many other ships around at all. But if there were many ships around, that might also be a problem, because a crowded ocean is… not pretty anymore.”  
She paused to pet Mono’s face a little.  
“… and… instead of other boats, the boat had decided to start talking to the star. There was one really bright one. And the boat wanted to speak to it a lot and ask it a lot of questions. So the boat decided to… start traveling into the direction of the star.”  
Six wasn’t very creative, she knew that.  
And she wasn't good with kids either.  
If you could call the being named 'Mono' even a kid.  
But Mono seemed to relax, wrapped around her, still holding her warmly.  
The first source of warmth she had seen in a while.  
“… and while the star did not… talk, it did keep the boat moving forward. And maybe it was listening. Maybe the boat just could not understand the twinkles. The boat had to know for sure though…”  
  
She would tell a story.  
And then they would sleep.  
And not dream any more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First chapter, I hope you liked it!  
> I was considering writing a chapter for when EVERY enemy in Little Nightmares 2 captures you, giving it a harmless twist, but I'm not sure.  
> Do tell if you'd like to see that and what you'd like to see!


	4. Dream Transmission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ironically, in a nightmare world, only the dreams bring peace and quiet.
> 
> ... even, or maybe especially, when the person you are in your dreams is no longer the one you have become in real life and the people you speak to are those you never had the chance to meet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based on my thought that maybe dreams can be transmitted too and that Six and Mono can meet once more, shed from their pain...
> 
> Warnings-  
> ThinMono and Six interact with their usual intimacy.  
> Six isn't actually Six, but the Geisha that Six has turned into by now, something she still doesn't handle well.  
> Otherwise nothing much, they just think whistfully about a better future.

They were laying there.  
Inside of the grass.  
The sky above them was a bright blue, not a single cloud to be found-  
Thankfully the full crown of a large tree was covering the two people laying in the grass with gently waving shadows.  
The small being in the yellow jacket was holding the thin man’s head on her lap, having removed his hat to gently comb through his hair.  
It was peaceful.  
Despite everything.  
The Thin Man’s hand twitched, as pain was trying to break back into this serene scene… however the girl in the yellow raincoat reacting almost immediately.  
“… it is okay, Mono. _Everything is okay.”_  
“… it was so bad, Six. Everything was terrible, I was so alone, I felt like I was suffocating.”  
“… you are out now, Mono. It is over. I am back.”  
Closing his eyes, Mono tried to think about everything other than the thoughts that had circled in his mind over and over while trapped at the bottom of the pit.  
Right now there was nothing he wanted to focus on other than those warm, gentle hands going over his head.  
Everything felt bad.  
His body felt twisted and wrong, as if it didn’t belong to him.  
And for all he knew, it might didn’t.  
The world around him felt so noisy and unbearable back then, and he was terrified of things going back to the way things used to be.  
It was nice now.  
He didn’t want it to stop.  
However-  
_“… this isn’t real.”_  
“Perhaps.” This didn’t seem to upset Six in the slightest. “But I do not mind. This place is nicer than anything I have seen before.”  
“I don’t like it.” He whispered.  
As his small friend titled her head slightly, a little bit of her skin was visible under the yellow hood, her chin and smiling mouth, revealing tiny teeth.  
_Tiny_.  
But dangerous enough to kill a human being once they were in a vulnerable position.  
And if Mono was currently ANYTHING, then it was in a vulnerable position.  
Tired he stared upwards into the maw, not minding that knowledge. If Six was back to finish the job, he would be nothing but grateful.  
The sun above soaked warmth into them.  
Six kept petting along his hair, the gentle pull through it giving a nice sort of rhythm to their session.  
Quietly Six laughed to herself, catching Mono’s attention.  
“… what is so funny?”  
“Oh. I was thinking… being _touch-starved_ is such a funny phrase. _We do not eat touch_. A touch is something you cannot consume, is it now? And yet, look at us. We are starving.”  
“I’m doing a little better now… _thank you for that.”_ Slightly embarrassed Mono tried to sit up again- but then Six’s arms wrapped around his head, keeping him in place.  
“… hey. I was not trying to tell you off for being ungrateful. I am enjoying this too.”  
It felt weird.  
If everything was normal, Mono would never escape this kind of grip, however, nothing about this was normal and he could simply stand up, Six dangling off his head for a moment, before dropping to his shoulder.  
Slightly adjusting his head, Mono looked around.  
In the distance, there was the grey and black Pale City, broken and twisted.  
Absent-mindedly he looked at it, the Signal Tower standing tall despite everything. Maybe that was what made this not real. If this was real, the Signal Tower would be gone…  
A slight pull made him put his head into his neck, for a moment confused and concerned- then he realized that Six was trying and succeeding to climb on his head.  
The hat made that easy and Mono tried to stand still.  
Getting settled on there, for a few moments more Mono let her do her thing, about to ask if she was feeling comfortable-  
When suddenly an apple was dangled down beside him.  
“Eat something! You look like you are starving.”  
“Ah… well, thank you. I think I will.” Reaching up, he let the fruit fall into his hand, before raising it to his mouth, hesitantly biting into it. Tasty and fruity, it was filled with more juice than he had expected, he started coughing.  
The biting sound above was interrupted by snickering.  
“Christ, Mono! Have you already forgotten HOW to eat?!”  
“No, no, I just wasn’t- prepared.”  
The snickering continued for a moment longer, before more chomping sounds signaled that Six was back to eating.  
Standing around, Mono’s eyes wandered from the Pale City over to the more overgrown area to the other side.  
Away from the ocean and the deep woods, there were fields and roads leading away-  
Six’s voice sounded.  
_“… if I would ask you… would you run away with me?”_  
“That’s- a bit much!”  
“Why?” Suddenly Six’s face came back into his field of vision from above, as she crouched down and leaned over the edge of his hat. “Do you LIKE the Signal Tower?!”  
“No!”  
“Then what is stopping you?!”  
“I-“ _Good question_. “… the Signal Tower… gives me a lot of additional strength and influence. I can leave, but if I go- will I be of any use?”  
“Use to who?”  
_… good question…_  
_“… to you…?”_  
“Newsflash, you are no good to me in there either.” Six flashed an upside down smile, bright and sweet, like the apple. “Come on Mo-AaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-“  
Tumbling over, Six almost fell down, thankfully Mono reacted quickly and caught her in his hands safely.  
Disapproving he stared down at his reckless friend. “… I suppose I might actually be of some use to you out here, if this is how you act.”  
“Wh-what is that supposed to mean?! If it had not been for you being so climbable, I would have been fine!”  
“You would have climbed the tree by yourself instead.”  
“ _Maybe_. But that is NOT relevant!” Prideful the kid huffed.  
Leaving the topic here, Mono turned once more, this time fully, to the wide fields in the distance.  
“… you want to… just go out there? See what happens? You want to go into the unknown, facing god knows what, maybe things that want us dead and have the power to do so?”  
For a moment it was silent, as Six REALLY thought about it.  
Afterwards, her voice was quiet.  
And older.  
_“… yeah. I want to stay myself. I cannot allow myself to be trapped by security or bigger and worse creatures. I would crumble up and turn to stone. If I keep going, maybe I can keep this little motor in my chest alive, not just- functioning.”_  
“And that is the way to do it?”  
“… the only way I know of that would make it possible.”  
Mono’s grip was gentle on Six’s body, carefully moving her around, her weight shifting as gravity pulled.  
Finally the Thin Man sighed, smiled at her and put her on his shoulder.  
“Well then. Perhaps there is something out there that can revive this thing inside of me too. Let us see what the world has to offer!”  
  
  
_Six awoke in her quarters, her breath breaking, as tears broke out of her._  
Quickly she ripped off her mask, before it could get stained and dirtied, then dragged herself over to the mirror inside of her room.  
It was splintered, but it barely did the trick.  
She looked inside and her old, tormented face stared back.  
Bags under the wet eyes, reddish and sickly.  
Splintered lips, dry.  
Old and ancient and not at all like she remembered herself being.  
Her shaking hand reached for one of the apples that were on a little plate and dragged one to her mouth, biting in, biting it instantly in half.  
It tasted disgusting, crumbling and dry and didn’t fill her at all.  
_But it was all she had._  
Once more she bit down, again and again, until she finally tasted _something_ -  
Reddish black and tasting like salt and metal.  
She had bitten into her own fingers on accident.  
  
The pain finally was enough to bring her back to reality permanently.  
Slowly she breathed in and cleaned her eyes, before putting the mask back on and turning to the table a few rooms further, walking slowly and graciously.  
On the table, there was a map of the world, the ocean routes specifically.  
She could travel the world. With ease.  
_She was free._  
Slowly she put her finger onto a little haven on the map, far away in the regions that Six had read were all sandy and heated, where man and beast used to still be forced to rely on one another for survival.  
The Maw would accept guests once more and this was the place they would do it.  
The horn of the Maw blew, even up here it wasn’t loud enough to be painful- but very much strong enough to cause the walls to shake a little.  
They were setting sail.  
And Six would forget about her dream about dead people and long lost bodies again.


	5. Kintsugi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Lady of the Maw suffers under a few cracks of her own.  
> Thankfully, there is a beautiful way to fix it-
> 
> Pick up the shards and fuse them together with gold. 
> 
> Or, in her case- approach her past and allow it back into her life. The static sound of the TV isn't that bad after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No warnings as far as I know!  
> Lady/ThinMan, they are adult version of Six and Mono.  
> Post betrayal!

She was well-versed in all things, really.  
There was not one lifetime worth of books and studies inside of her home, there was by now six lifetimes captured within herself and more were coming soon enough. Her first priority had been the Japanese culture. She couldn’t QUITE recall how this had started, but it might had to do with the ship she had been picked up by the very first loop…  
By now she had gathered and mastered almost everything that this part of the human culture had to offer.  
  
… emphasis on _almost_ …  
  
… there was something she simply could not master and it was the art of kintsugi.  
 _The art of fixing cracks and breaks inside of pottery and similar items with gold._  
She KNEW how to work with metal, how to create the pottery, she knew every detail, yet whenever she tried to commit himself to the work, it ended up not only looking wrong, but also quite often breaking apart once more. The more gold she added, the less useful it became, fickler and more a liability than a valuable tool.  
Why couldn’t she do it?  
What was she missing?  
At its core, this art form was about appreciating the flaws and the history of an object, instead of trying to cover it up.  
It was supposed to be all about…  
… _incompletion_ …  
… frankly, in the Geisha’s opinion, things were better seamless, more beautiful when they were clean and unharmed, when they were in one piece, as they were intended.  
Why would you love something old, if you couldn’t get something… new _, something right_.  
She despised this artform, actually.  
Everything was wrong about it.  
Certainly, you could not create everything perfect from scratch, but there was a difference between improving upon something and kintsugi.  
 _Mainly that improving at least made SENSE._  
Most of the philosophy developing behind the different Japanese art forms made sense.  
 _This did not._  
Quietly she sighed to herself, putting down the tools and the shards, giving up on her task for now.  
She would try again later, without a hint of a doubt, but right now she felt tired and drained, with a hint anger.  
  
Retreating back into her library, she tapped onto the back of one of her books, not even reading it, too anxious and tense to focus at all.  
Perhaps there was something she was missing.  
Something at the core of the art form, that would allow her to see these things in a new light.  
 _That would make herunderstand, after six lives_.  
Quietly she sighed to herself, standing up and exiting the room, opening the door which suddenly led her to a very different room than she had entered from.  
There were giant shelves filled to the top with books of all shapes and sizes, however, compared to the collection Six was hiding in her own quarters, they were nothing special.  
They didn’t need to be.  
Culture and educational, romance, horror, adventure, mystery, crime, guides to worlds that have never existed and to worlds that had long vanished.  
They were good, enjoyable books and accessible for anyone, even if nobody ever went here.  
Nobody except-  
… why, now that she thought about it, the only person she had ever seen going up there was Roger and he was blind as a bat.  
Alas, he had to dust off the books anyhow, but sometimes it felt like this man was spending an awful lot of time in there. Was he dusting every book individually?  
Suddenly she heard something-  
It seemed like she would have the chance to ask the janitor himself!  
Delightful.  
After picking up a book about the different philosophies from around the world she followed the long-armed man into the backroom of the area, planning on- more or less malicious- scare her servant before asking her question-  
But then, she was abruptly stopped by the noises she heard.  
 _Static.  
_ And a filtered voice, singing.  
Abruptly the Geisha opened the door, Roger fumbling to deactivate the TV, cowering in front of the rage of the Mistress of the Maw.  
“ _Roger_.” Her voice was quiet. _“I am confident that I have ordered for there to be NO televisions on board of the Maw. Would you like to explain why you have decided to go against my direct orders?”_  
The janitor was quiet for a moment and his answer was just as calm.  
“… the children like the TV, Geisha.”  
“THERE ARE MANY OTHER THINGS THAT CHILDREN LIKE! _I WANT YOU TO_ -“ Pausing, getting herself back under control, she gave Roger a chance to speak up.  
“Geisha, why are you so badly against TVs anywhere? Everyone I know likes them.” With that he reached up to his own head, cracking it with a terrible noise.  
For a moment Six stared down at him-  
 _Why DID she hate the televisions?  
_ Of course, what happened, but that has long passed.  
She wasn’t scared of the Thin Man, _not anymore_. She herself was powerful, powerful enough to stand up to him and to dispel him. Whatever he could try to do to her, it would be futile.  
So why was she still outlawing TVs?  
They would help her distract the guests, pulling some pressure off herself.  
At this moment she thought back of the plates and the gold.  
… there was no gold to be found here, yet perhaps she could at least attempt to gather up some old shards she had been ignoring.  
 _Shards_.  
Even if you weren’t planning or able to reuse them, at least you could ensure they wouldn’t be hurting anyone by taking the edges off them and crushing them into unrecognizable dust.  
Maybe this was it, maybe that was what she was missing.  
If she despised the shards, how could she work with them?  
For another moment she remained quiet.  
Then she made his decision.  
“… fine. I will confiscate the TV for now and see if I can deem it safe. If that is the case then-“  
 _“… safe from what?”_  
“Roger _. I am asking you politely to trust in my choices_.”  
Finally the janitor turned to leave, disappearing back into the bowels of the Maw, while the Lady picked up the TV with her magic moving back through the door and into her very private study.  
The doctor would probably call this exposure therapy.  
She got a table to place it on, then checked to have the power connected.  
Lastly she sat down in front of it, staring into the dark surface before her-  
 _A black mirror._  
Her skin crawled.  
However, she tried to stay steady-  
To keep herself busy, she picked out another set of shards and a little bit of gold, ready to try again. Shards that she didn’t care about, grey and lifeless, of no value- didn’t matter though, she only needed them as a means for an end.  
Forming, heating up the metal, that all was not a problem. But-  
Abruptly she looked up, thinking she saw movement inside of the screen-  
 _Nothing_.  
The screen was still black, the Geisha’s pale mask reflecting inside of it.  
 _Like it was trapped there, no longer real_.  
Quietly she sighed again, trying to force her hands back to her task and her mind everywhere else.  
So instead she traveled back to the memories from before, the few memories of TVs she had.  
 _Her old friend pressing his fingers against a screen, making it shine up in thousand shades of white and black, flickering and glimmering, pressing THROUGH the surface like it was nothing but mud-  
It was somewhat scary.  
_This boy had been bending reality to his will and he didn’t even seem aware of what he was doing, simply stumbling forwards as though it was a pure instinct.  
 _Pure instincts.  
They were problems.  
And the only thing that kept them alive_.  
Six’s instinct had led her towards the shadows, led him up and through the areas that others would see as impossible obstacles. Now the shadows were playing around her fingertips, bending to her will, serving her gracefully.  
Yes, she was now the master of her instincts.  
That was what being adult was all about.  
… right?  
 _She hated the fact that she wasn’t sure. This insecurity threw her right back into her smaller self’s mindset, weak and cowering and animalistic._ Nothing befitting a high-rank person like her.  
Slowly her eyes were drawn upwards once more, back towards the TV.  
 _… wondering if her friend had mastered his abilities by now as well.  
_ Time didn’t function right in the Signal Tower. There only is the past and future, the right now was fully meaningless and suspended in the air, just like many of the toys and items that had been scattered around.  
A twinge in her heart caused her to wince, thoughts that she had been trying to repress and avoid pushing themselves up viciously, ripping apart old seams-  
 _She had liked it there. She had felt safe there._  
And she hated it, she hated it so much.  
It was stained with HIM, tainted, a place that hadn’t been made for her, unlike the Maw.  
The gold in her grasp was dripping into new shapes, shuddering in synch with the Lady’s fingers.  
There was no way she could apply it like this.  
… maybe she should go and consume something, but she felt sick to the stomach.  
Sick because of hunger? Or because of something else?  
Suddenly she stood up, letting the gold freeze up again and turned to leave, staring the TV down in fury.  
No, she didn’t NEED to stick around.  
She could just LEAVE again.  
And she WOULD.  
With that she rushed out, letting the door slammed behind her.  
  
  
It took another three days before the Geisha returned to her study.  
Sneaking around her own quarters, she felt weirdly upset and anxious. Of course, she kept an eye on any sort of activity inside of the room, but nothing seemed to have happened.  
The ship was steering towards the Pale City once more, so she was CONFIDENT they were within HIS reach.  
And yet-  
Nothing.  
 _Was he just ignoring her!?_  
No-  
 _No_.  
 _She couldn’t allow this man to drive him insane._  
So after three days of feeling locked out of her OWN library, she opened the door to the place once more, the TV staring at her with its black gaze.  
Carelessly placing down the cup shards again, she began her work once more, attempting to fuse shards with golds, carefully and thin, but strong.  
It took a few moments, after that thought, Six managed to sigh and relax a little, even in front of the frozen black surface-  
 _Like black ice._  
In an odd way, it was pretty.  
Then again, she supposed that was the reason they were drawing near so many viewers, who were willing to let themselves be deformed, if only they were fed this mind-numbing happiness that the Signal Tower transmitted.  
Bitterly the Geisha stretched the gold between her fingers, thinning it out.  
 _Happiness. The Thin Man could transmit happiness and WOULD transmit happiness at the price of everyone around him. As long as HE was happy, nothing else mattered. As long as HE could feel like a hero, it didn’t matter what he smashed down and ripped apart.  
Or how terrible Six was feeling. _  
Dropping him had been the right choice.  
All he did was leaving destruction in his wake and smiling about it.  
He would have gotten her killed, over short and long and seeing what he would turn into, she wouldn’t even have felt bad about it. All he cared about was the attention and perceived glory.  
Judging HER for his OWN actions.  
Six’s head hurt and she decided to do something she usually refused to-  
 _She took a break._  
Simply putting down her tools, she leaned back, staring forward into the screen. While she wasn’t sure what she was expecting, she did know that she neither wanted to continue with her task nor move on to another.  
For now she would sit here.  
 _Watching._  
The tension never left her body, she was still sitting straight, though at least her hands were resting, not tapping, not fidgeting.  
 _A bad, old habit_.  
The screen simply watched back.  
Unmoving.  
Unreacting.  
… somehow, sadness washed over Six as she looked at her own mask inside of it, staring into the TV and so back at her, just as emotionless as the screen framing it.  
 _Maybe she and Mono hadn’t been THAT different after all._  
The tiredness seeping into her bones was new…  
… she hadn’t been sleeping since the second cycle.  
It wasn’t necessary anymore, she had gathered enough knowledge to remove the need for sleep- and why would anyone WANT to sleep?  
Yet here she was, tired, _downright exhausted_ , just because she couldn’t manage to fuse a stupid shard to another stupid shard in a way that seemed aesthetically pleasing to her.  
 _It was just a cup.  
It didn’t MATTER._  
She had THOUSANDS of cups, yet the last damn weeks, maybe longer, she had been working on this, applying and removing the gold, back and forth, to no end, for no reason at all!  
Leaning back, she relaxed a little more, closing her eyes.  
Her mind was working, until the noises inside turned into nothing but a low buzz.  
  
When she woke up, she was distressed.  
After all, she didn’t even realize she had fallen asleep, she couldn’t believe she MANAGED to sleep!  
Her head was groggy and all fogged up, and fearful she checked on the television in front of her-  
Relaxing slightly when she saw it was deactivated and still standing where she had left it.  
Everything was fine.  
Maybe Mono couldn’t even reach her here.  
 _… that thought however was also not making her any happier.  
_ Sitting up fully straight again, she glanced around for anything else changing. So far, all the books were in the same place, the candles were untouched, her tools were in front of her and-  
Slowly reaching out, she very carefully picked up two shards, that had been fused together by a thin vein of gold.  
It looked amateurish. Like someone stumbled in the process, it wasn’t even at all. And the pieces were TINY, the smallest in the set.  
Yet…  
… in an odd way…  
… _it looked right_.  
There was no way anyone could enter her personal library, no through the doors.  
… not through the normal doors, that was.  
Between anxious, confused and angry she glanced at the TV again, reaching out towards it, the feeling of static dancing over her tips before she could even make contact with it.  
Pulling back, she once more looked at the shards, dragging her thumb over the smooth, yet uneven surface.  
Then she gathered her tools and left.  
  
  
This time around it only took a single day for her to return.  
The Maw was a busy place, there were always things to do, ceremonies to attend and workers to watch over.  
In the back of her mind however, the Lady was in her private library, with the shards.  
When she finally fully made it there, the television was dark as always, this time though it felt a little more familiar as a presence. It felt… quieter, calmer. Perhaps even friendlier. More as though there was a curious watcher present than a hostile bystander.  
Gravely Geisha raised up the connected shards.  
 _They were still holding._  
Usually Six’s golden creations broke pretty quickly.  
Sitting down in front of the television once more, she carefully laid out the connected shards and picked up another two smaller shards and began working, heating up the metal with the energy burning inside of her.  
Every now and again she glanced up, interrupting her work-  
Then she decided to focus more on her work and to treat it like one of her performances to focus better- opening her mouth to speak, her voice sweet.  
“… _the old tradition of kintsugi is said to have multiple origins, as a technique that was developed by many different cultures over a long period of time. However, one of the main origins is said to be an event during the late 15 th century, where the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa sent a Chinese tea bowl back to China to get it repaired, only to have it returned repaired with ugly metal staples. Promptly, the craftsmen under him began to look for more aesthetic way to repair such things.”_  
She smiled to himself.  
“… it is a simple origin story, a believable one. Yet kintsugi has developed into its very own philosophy, about the history of an object and the value of it. It is easy to make the connection, repairing something with gold gives the act of repairing it far greater value than cheap metal staples or glue.”  
It was quiet.  
The Geisha felt sad.  
“… _I have worked on this cup for a long time. I seem unable to master it and I cannot piece together why. I lack love or attachment to this cup, it is true, yet I pour my effort into it nonetheless. It should count for something_.”  
Again, the nothingness crept through the air for a few moments.  
“ _Perhaps it does not_. Picking up the pieces of something broken is hard enough already, so removing it, allowing it to disappear and something new to take its place, would that not be right?”  
She hesitated.  
“… _then again, that is not how we as people work. Letting go of things has never been easy and always lead to regret following you afterwards, leaving a vacant spot within you. I have no love for the cup, yet I would know if it was missing_.”  
Shortly she paused to check on her work.  
… no, no, it didn’t look right.  
It was too thick. That would be a problem, that wasn’t how it was supposed to be.  
Frustrated she sighed.  
“ _I was never good at grieving. I always only threw away, assuming I was done. Yet here I am, with this cup, unable to go forward and repair it, nor backwards to undo shattering it at all._ ”  
With that she stood up, exiting the room, leaving behind the shards.  
One night on a table wouldn’t hurt it and she wanted to LEAVE.  
  
When she returned the next day, she found the shards she had attached to each other were now fused with the shards that had “mysteriously” fused before.  
Staring at it, she slowly sank down into the chair, raising her eyebrow- which of course was fully concealed below the mask and thus pointless.  
“ _Why look at you_. I might as well just leave it to you completely, you seem so confident with what you do. You clearly know what you are doing.”  
The television stayed silent, of course.  
The Lady looked over the cup.  
“… or perhaps not. You see, the reason why I left it where I did was because it was incorrect. Do you see this?” He showed the little set to the screen. “It is too thick here. I will have to remove it from there, or otherwise, nothing will fit into place-“  
Before she could finish however the TV abruptly flickered to life, causing her to jump away.  
Grey, black and white, in stripes and lines, shivering and shuddering.  
Buzzing.  
 _Dancing_.  
“How rude!” Having passed the split second it took for the Geisha to transform fear into anger, she stood up straight, pointing at the screen. “ _Who do you think you are!? I know it is you, Mono. I know you are listening. I am here to tell you that I neither fear nor pity you and me so casually spending time around you is the proof. You may interact with this cup, for I do not care about this cup either, but if you get any ideas about bothering me with these cheap tricks, I will introduce you to a new world of pain!_ ”  
For another moment the ghostly white light kept radiating from the screen-  
Then the room was plunged in abrupt darkness as the screen deactivated, only a few slight candles shining tiny halos between them.  
It was absolutely silent once more.  
Once more the Geisha sat down onto her chair, waiting, staring at the screen-  
Nothing any further happened, so she reached towards her tools, the gold and the shards and she proceeded to work on another set of shards.  
In frustration she picked up the biggest shards and began adding gold to it- this time it wasn’t thick, but instead it varied wildly in mass, pearling outwards and slightly down the outside. It didn’t look too good, it disrupted the smooth surface in a major way.  
And yet, considering how she felt right now, _it looked right_ and that was more than she could say for her prior works.  
In a sudden burst of determination, she picked up the rest of the assembled pieces, very carefully adding to it. Gold slipped into the cracks, smoothly filling, and adhering the parts together, slowly recreating the shape of the cup- it was coming together bit by bit.  
As she tilted the shape, the gold shimmered- rough at some parts, smooth at others and looking over them, the Lady could easily tell who made what and how.  
Apathetic, thick sadness- bubbles of anger- cold, hard, thin perfectionism _\- and those clumsy, clumsy attempts to make things right, to make this broken thing whole again-_  
Breaking away from her fixation, she harshly put the part of the cup down… not realizing that despite her hurry to get it back out of her hand, the way she placed it had been gentle, ensuring it would not get a single scratch.  
Standing up, she turned.  
“… enough for today.”  
As she arrived at the door, she paused, her heart beating in her chest in a painful manner, that forbade her to leave just yet-  
“ _You… you did quite well. I did not expect you to have a talent for these kinds of things, yet your work is… not half bad_.”  
With that, she finally could go.  
  
  
The next few days and pieces came with a steady increase in the static activating on television, these times Six allowed it, hesitant, but equally as curious.  
After all, this was an exercise to prove that she felt no more fear towards her former friend and if she let the slightest bit of static upset her, then she was proving the exact opposite. So, instead she would call out for the static, ask casual questions, put pauses into her speech that beckoned for a reaction.  
It worked quite well, to a point that as soon as she opened the door, the static flipped on, almost seeming excited to see her in a way.  
Or maybe the Geisha was merely finally going mad.  
“ _Dear lord, Mono… do you have nothing better to do than to watch me fix this cup?_ ” Slightly she smiled, it was even audible in her voice. “… I do a few more exciting things outside of this, unlike you. I have learned more things than you can imagine. Five lifetimes by now… all spend educating myself. Song and dance and traditional Japanese culture came first. _I have developed quite the nice voice, if I do say so myself.”  
_ The static crackling of the television became loud, more erratic.  
“… what? You want to hear me sing? Well- usually I only sing for the guests who pay for their stay…”  
She thought of those disgusting creatures that she had no joy making any sort of music for.  
“… _but I suppose I can make an exception, this once.”  
_ Instantly the TV went almost silent, while the Lady focused back on the work she was doing with her hand, getting into the rhythm of melody, before opening her mouth and giving out those long, soft, yearning notes that had always brought her a sense of peace.  
They remained like this, Six singing and Mono listening from the other side, the cup being build up, slowly but surely.  
 _It had been a tiny cup.  
Shattered into many tiny pieces.  
And yet, it started to look… complete._  
When she was done singing, she smiled a little to herself, putting it down- it was almost done. The last act would most likely be to connect the two complete halves…  
The buzzing from the television had become somewhat of a reassuring noise to her, preventing any sort of silence from happening at all, giving her the reassuring awareness that she wasn’t alone and didn’t have to be.  
“… what do you think? I think once it is repaired, I would like to test it by making some tea.”  
 _As she looked up, there were two large, dark hands pressed against the inside of the screen_ \- almost causing Six to drop the carefully assembled item once more as she stumbled back.  
Instantly upon her reaction, the hands vanished-  
Leaving the Geisha to stand there her own hand halfway raised, caught between a defense motion and- _reaching out to touch the screen in turn_.  
“… Mono…”  
She whispered, more to himself, heat catching up with her nose and eyes, causing it to go fuzzy like the screen, as slowly water gathered itself inside.  
She wasn’t even sure WHY she felt this.  
Leaving behind the two halves of the cup, she rushed to leave, trying to not to think or feel anything any further.  
  
  
  
When she returned, two days later, the halves of the cup were still laying just as she put them.  
The television was quiet.  
 _Dead_.  
Oh lord-  
 _Did another loop proceed_ -  
She hoped not.  
In this very moment, for this very second, Six wished with all her heart that no major loop event had proceeded.  
There was something missing.  
If Mono disappeared- she would never be able to finish this cup-  
 _It wasn’t quite clear to her why she even thought that, but she felt it in her very soul, this was an absolutely impossible task if she didn’t get his help, here and now and how he was._  
“… _Mono…?”_  
Her voice was barely a whisper, being eaten up by the papers and leather around her.  
“ _M-Mono…!_ ”  
The television didn’t react.  
Cold fear crept into her chest.  
She wrecked her head with an idea on how to get Mono to appear again, how to make him _\- not dead, not gone, how to get him back, get his hand back into her own-  
_ Shakingly she took a breath, muttering a noise that she had considered stupid all those years ago.  
“ ** _Oii-!_** ”  
Within the second, the television flared to life, causing the Geisha to almost break down on the chair in relief.  
“… CHRIST- M-Mono! Why did you take so long?! Was it a revenge for my comments the last few times?!”  
 _She was getting emotional, irrational, she was getting heated and mean again, like the THING she used to be, the useless, fearful, destructive thing-_  
“Never do this again! I- I thought- you- this cup- _this cup needs to be fixed and if you are not here_ -“  
And just like back then, JUST like back then, her words were forsaking her, stumbling and crumbling USELESSLY, until she was forced to shut her mouth helplessly, leaving her to wish she hadn’t tried to speak in the very first place.  
The frizzling and buzzing of the television made a short, gentle melody.  
It was cold and quiet inside of the Geisha’s head.  
She didn’t like it.  
Hesitantly she reached out, pressing her tingling fingers against the screen, casting a shadow against it.  
For a few heartbeats nothing happened-  
Then the shadow below her fingers grew in size, turning into another shape, a stranger’s hand.  
The cold of the glass was replaced by the warmth of the hand below his own, then it intertwined their fingers, causing her heartbeat to spike abruptly-  
 _Fear?  
It didn’t feel quite like that, she KNEW fear, this was-  
_The Geisha turned away, as though fearing her face, even protected by the mask, would give something away.  
 _This was too much. She was breathing too loudly. Her very own skin felt like a foreign object right now…  
_ … she realized too late that another grey hand had made its way out of the TV, reaching for her face. Only when she felt Mono touch her cheeks she winced and moved back, shaking her head as she protected her mask with her free hand, the other still firmly connected to her former friend.  
“ _No_.” She managed to break out, despite her mouth being so utterly uncooperative. “ _I do not- you- I am-”  
_ Stopping, she swallowed anxiously, before trying to take a calming breath.  
“… _can you fix it with me?_ ”  
Promptly the grey arm moved back, hovering for a second, then picking up one of the beautiful halves, holding it unsure.  
Six quickly picked up her own half and the gold, which she heated up promptly into a fluid form, carefully covering the edges of the shards that Mono was holding, then very studiously pressed her half against his, keeping it very steady until it seemed to have cooled down enough to stick.  
Gently she pulled her hand away from the one Mono was holding and took the cup very carefully out of his other hand, holding it like something precious.  
 _It looked perfect. The place where the halves met was smooth, thin, but notable, shining in the flickering of the TV and candles._  
Her breath was hitching as she tried to laugh.  
“I feel so silly now, I have to admit. After all this time it is done. _Mono, I broke this cup on purpose. I simply dropped this cup, for the purpose of fixing it like this, but now- now I KNOW-“_  
Once more she broke off, unsure of what she even wanted to say anymore.  
It felt so different now. The entire cup felt so different now.  
 _“… it is the same cup, but now I see more to it. I think I finally have some love for this object.”  
_ Hell, she wasn’t quite sure why she didn’t see it before.  
“… perhaps there is something that grants us inherent value by the nature of someone putting effort into us.”  
It was silent.  
Memories were quite brutal when they wanted to be and it seemed as though they ALWAYS did crave to enact violence upon its bearer- or perhaps it was just her in specific who had to suffer under himself.  
Maybe she deserved it.  
Stepping back she looked one more time at it.  
“… as a sign of my gratitude for your help with my studies, I invite you herby officially to visit me.”  
And that was another part, another piece, that needed to be-  
 _Made right_.  
… after all, how best to prove that she wasn’t scared anymore?  
Invite lion into his den?  
…  
 _… Mono was no lion.  
She knew that.  
Deep down.  
_She sighed a little.  
Until tomorrow she had to sort out a few feelings.  
  
  
  
The sky was slowly coloring orange.  
The sundown and sunrise were the most beautiful times of day and the Geisha never missed it, if in any way avoidable.  
In the firey orange were little specks, tiny stars, the ones that were strong enough to push back against the reach of the sun.  
Sitting at the top of one of the boat’s chimney, the place usually reserved for maintenance, the Geisha let her eyes wander over the ocean that seemed like a sea of magma.  
Beside her was a tablet with a tea pot and two cups, one shimmering golden in the fading light, considerably bigger than the other due to the added material- and of course, the television.  
On point it flickered to life.  
The Lady wasn’t tense anymore.  
Something made its way out of there, which rather fast revealed itself to be hands, followed by a hat, head and suit, until finally the Thin Man, the broadcaster of the Pale City stood beside her, silent.  
They remained like that for another moment, before Six spoke up.  
“There is not much that can keep up with this view. Surely nothing in your dead city.”  
For another moment, Mono stayed quiet, stepping forward to peek over the edge.  
 _“… we are awfully far up here, Geisha…”_  
For a few moments Six tried to figure out what he wanted to say-  
Then she grew flustered.  
“W-well, I am just as far up as you are! I am in as much danger as you. I simply wanted to show you the view, for I love it a lot.”  
“… I like to think, I have a bit of a better track record to not dropping people compared to you.”  
 _“Yes, my hundred times I caught you to the one time I dropped you compared to the one zero time you ever caught me at all*”_  
“No need to be snarky! You never needed it!” Upset Mono glared over at her.  
The Geisha scoffed. “I would have appreciated the gesture though.”  
 _“You would not have TRUSTED me enough to catch you, because you thought I would be thinking like you and dropping you when necessary.”_  
“That is a lie!” Her fingers grabbing the railing she looked up at her former friend. “ _So you have not-“_  
Then she broke off, as looking into Mono’s eyes fully brought her out of her line of thought.  
 _He had not forgiven her.  
_ And… how could he have?  
 _She hadn’t even apologized yet.  
And she wasn’t sure if he could._  
There was a lot of pain in Mono’s eyes, deep and dark, like the ocean surrounding them.  
 _Had she really been running away from him of all people?  
_ Turning back forwards, the Lady closed her eyes, hoping Mono would not shove her from behind and drop her to her death.  
… as it didn’t happen, slowly Six reached out for the tea set.  
“… during tea ceremonies it used to be highly discouraged to talk about deeply serious topics, like politics and business, it was supposed to be its own world, for the stressed noblemen to retreat to and forget. _This here of course is not even slightly similar to a tea ceremony, but I would like to invite you to rest your worries anyhow and accept a cup_.”  
Carefully she raised the tall, golden and grey cup up to Mono, who-  
  
 _Accepted_.  
  
They would be sitting up there side by side, until the stars began shining and the moon rose above all else, flooding its silver light onto the world.  
And when it got cold enough for Six to start shivering, Mono slightly moved closer and unbuttoned his jacket, draping it over both of them.


	6. Rotting weakness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Thin Man carefully brings his beloved and only friend back home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of two chapters about the moment that Six has been kidnapped, because it gives me a lot of happiness and excitement.  
> So many emotions in this.
> 
> Warning:  
> ThinMono interacts with Six with his usual intimacy. If that makes you uncomfortable, please do not proceed!  
> Otherwise nothing much, themes of isolation and co-dependency maybe.  
> Reminder that IF I need to add a warning, tell me.

He was holding her in his hands.  
God.  
Six was now so tiny.  
So fragile.  
Mono remembered what it had been like, back then. It were his only memories, never any fresh ones overwriting them.  
_Never anything there outside of the endless loop of memories._  
And because it hurt to think back of Six’s face when she dropped him, he thought back of other things.  
_Things that might could explain it._  
It all.  
So it would make sense.  
Blame to be shifted, signs he hadn’t understood before maybe, places that could have CHANGED things…  
What he remembered most of all though was that Six was fragile.  
Trapped twice in a row, starting with the hospital, Mono had known he had to look after her. The last two times that he had found her in time, those had been lucky, he had been there, before the Hunter and the Bullies committed their vile deeds.  
Lucky, too, that they hadn’t ensured someone else would aid them, someone bigger and more powerful than young Mono.  
He had remembered how it felt like when the Thin Man reached out for Six and he was cowering under the bed, unable to move or really think, because there was nothing he COULD do, so much smaller and weaker.  
Ironic.  
It was himself that had brought him the realization that he needed to become stronger, _much stronger_ , strong enough to fight even those dreadful adults and crowds of beings skittering around-  
_Now he was that strong_.  
Carefully he petted over Six’s cheek, closing his eyes a little to enjoy touching his best friend again.  
Naturally, Six couldn’t have trusted him.  
Thinking back, he brought her nothing but anxieties, leaving her defenseless over and over and over again-  
Not this time.  
_This time he would be strong enough to protect Six and give her a place to call home.  
He could erase things from reality.  
He could shape the world around him.  
He could be anywhere and everywhere that he wanted to be.  
He even could move through time as necessary.  
There was nothing that could go wrong.  
Nothing._  
Arriving at the top of the tower, he kept cradling his most beloved friend, wanting to keep her warm and secure as she was sleeping.  
Oh, he remembered how poor Six had been shivering, even when she finally got her raincoat.  
A coat only could do so much against the grey skies and pouring rain.  
No longer.  
Six would get a nice, warm room. Filled with toys and teddy bears.  
_  
Ah.  
It still felt wrong._  
  
Everything about this felt sinful and disgusting.  
He REMEMBERED, he wasn’t stupid. He remembered exactly what happened.  
The sequence of events were clear in his mind.  
And despite that, here he was, placing her into a nice little room again.  
He should just place her outside of the city.  
Even killing her was a better idea.  
_But he couldn’t do it.  
He had it all planned out in his mind, but now that he was holding Six, he knew he would never be able to do it._  
Hurting Six was completely out of the question. Putting Six out of the signal tower was as good as a death sentence.  
As soon as his fingers touched her, now so much bigger, so much stronger, seeing Six reaching out in desperation for perceived safety, so barren and fragile-  
_It was his duty to make sure it would never happen again._  
The fear his friend must have experienced…  
… thankfully this time it had been a false alarm.  
Nothing more than a misunderstanding.  
And now she was here, treasured and guarded.  
  
_Around him the tower shook._  
  
Good-  
Okay-  
FINE! FINE, FINE, HE WANTED TO KEEP HER HERE!  
THIS WAS ALL HIS DISGUSTING EGOTISM!  
THERE!  
WAS THIS WHAT IT WANTED TO HEAR?!  
_The thought of being alone in the tower again was filling him with panic and sickness. Even if Six could make it out there on her own, he DIDN’T want her to!_  
He was so tired of this endless nothing, with his fantasies and thoughts being projected for everyone to see and feed off, but he never was granted anything to indulge in.  
This place was driving him insane, stuck here alone and isolated, his trip into world only ever leaving to him either being ignored or attacked.  
_Everyone despised him._  
At least everyone with enough sense left to still be counted as a person.  
Not even the doctor would allow him inside of his hospital, no cure for his broken head inside of there-  
_He needed someone to be here for him.  
He wanted to think he was strong now, powerful, untouchable, but really?  
It was just as always.  
He was scared as always.  
Weak and unsure of what to do, hoping, praying, that Six knew the solution, that she would help him overcome this seemingly giant obstacle_.  
There he was, there he WAS, once more being a pathetic, dependent weakling.  
The weakling that Six had tried to drop to his doom.  
For good reason.  
This time however, it was different-  
Because this time, he had something to _offer_!  
Six was offered EVERYTHING!  
EVERYTHING SHE COULD EVER DREAM ABOUT!  
_… for only one and one thing…  
… god, he needed his friend back…_  
The TV signal that was transmitted, it fed the Viewers with all those things they lacked- true emotion, true desperation, anything and everything that colored in one’s life.  
He could fulfill that purpose like he did well enough, colored in by betrayal and anger, but him transmitting a new signal… it wouldn’t be too bad.  
Maybe it even would make the world outside kinder…?  
_He wanted it so bad to be true.  
He wanted to present Six with an ideal solution for everything, a solution so good that Six had no choice but to say yes.  
_Something that made Six sigh in relief and say-  
‘It was all worth it.’  
All the time she had spent with him.  
All the fear and anxiety.  
Mono owed it Six, that now he had this body, this tower, this ability-  
That he would take care of everything for her.  
  
A sob broke out of him, unwanted and muffled.  
  
As the pink room took form around him, as he hugged Six even tighter, squeezing her ever so slightly to make the feeling of her being here, her being REAL more potent.  
The tower had tormented him with mirages before-  
Or perhaps he had been cruel towards himself, vividly painting images that took shape for moments before fading again, over and over-  
All that didn’t matter anymore though.  
Six was here and shortly Mono felt like a little boy again.  
Like he could go back to things how they were before, even after he had been twisted.  
The signal tower twisted everything after all, everything without fail-  
_Six would be twisted too, but it would be fine, because they would recognize each other still and stay together as they always had._  
Appearance didn’t fool two people who truly loved each other.  
_And he would always love Six. No matter what she did.  
_When his breath had finally calmed down, he lovingly placed Six into a suitcase that was embedded with feathers and hay, to keep her as warm as possible.  
Later he would make her a nice bed, but for now he didn’t want her to get smothered by a blanket or pillow.  
Slowly he stood up, standing by, holding Six’s hand-  
Until it felt like an eternity had passed and he knew it was time to go.  
… go and face…  
… _himself_.  
He shuddered-  
However- it wouldn’t be like how remembered it.  
He knew it.  
This time, he wouldn’t give up.  
He wouldn’t crumble…  
He would beat himself this time and then-  
_Then everything would be okay._  
  
  
\---  
  
  
When Six woke up, she was in a nice place.  
A really nice place.  
It felt like it was made for her.  
… she was tired, her mind was fuzzy, but for once she felt warm and safe and she liked it- she liked it a lot.  
For a while she just laid there, until she slowly began shifting, looking around some more.  
In the distance, she saw a music box.  
She wished to reach it, stretching her arm out towards it.  
_And the signal tower obliged._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact, I mainly put up this entire one shot books, because I saw SO much angst and hurt/comfort potential with ThinMono and Six and saw so far NOBODY utilizing it.
> 
> And before you ask  
> Yes  
> This IS a direct plea for you guys to recommend me ANYTHING containing some good interaction between ThinMono and Six. Or ThinMono in general. I doubt anyone but me wrote it, but dear god, I want it, I want some sort of soothing for this traumatized child that had been locked up and physically twisted like this.


	7. Signal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Six get captured by the strangest adult she ever met.
> 
> Turns out, it is not an adult at all, just an overgrown boy that desperately needs direction and meaning again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two of two for now on "what happened when Six got kidnapped".  
> I have such a soft spot for ThinMono, I am so sorry. THE SOONER YOU GUYS REQUEST, THE SOONER I'LL WRITE SOMETHING NORMAL THAT YOU'D ACTUALLY LIKE.
> 
> Warning:  
> As last time, ThinMono interacting with Six in his usual intimacy, if you are sensitive to that kind of thing, turn back now!  
> Also, of course, themes of isolation and co-dependency.  
> Otherwise, this chapter is super fluffy and my form of a semi fix-it! I just want ThinMono to get a chance, goshdarnit.

In the pale city, it always rained.  
Always.  
Water pouring down from the roofs, but at least there was barely any wind.  
Six quietly looked around herself.  
She and Mono had somehow been separated. Broken floorboards, rotten wood, that had been all that it took.  
_After a whole while of walking through the areas hand in hand, now they were separated._  
The place Six had ended up in was hostile- she didn’t care to try and wait to see if Mono would come and get her.  
No.  
In this world, you owed it to yourself to not care about anything that didn’t concern your own safety-  
Mono was a clever boy, he could care for himself.  
They’d both become a liability to each other if they’d try anything silly, like meeting up again.  
A few people were scattered around, glued to the TVs visible through the windows.  
So many windows.  
So many TVs.  
Six often wonders how this was possible. How they maintained power, how they didn’t broke down after who knows how long without maintenance.  
There also was some curiosity about what exactly was on the TV-  
_But it scared her.  
She didn’t want to look.  
She didn’t want to become like those creatures. _  
_Slowly being eaten alive…_  
Her footsteps pattered as she passed another crowd.  
As long as she didn’t approach, they’d leave her alone and that was fine by her.  
The cold, wet air was already enough of an enemy.  
She really didn’t feel like running for her life on top of that.  
  
The buildings were akin to a maze.  
Tall, narrow and the shapes were all so utterly unnatural.  
Even the sky looked captured from down here, boxed in and uncomfortable.  
Above it all though, somehow visible from every place, was the signal tower.  
Its top glowed brightly, the only star at the clouded sky.  
Why, now that she looked at it, it actually seemed like the clouds wrapped themselves around it, gathering like the viewers, with a respectful distance left-  
_Who build this tower?  
Why was it so tall?  
What was its intended purpose?  
_… questions were useless, frankly.  
People looking for answers in this world ended either dead in a ditch or dead on the end of a rope.  
The less you knew, the better for yourself.  
Yet Six did love exploring the nooks and crannies of ever place she did find herself in- a deal she made with herself.  
No questions, no going back- only looking and seeing.  
_Looking and seeing._  
Again she looked up at the white glow.  
_Was it also looking?  
Was it seeing?_  
Only now he realized that her feet had stopped and she was standing still, looking up at the glowing orb.  
_No.  
No, no, no.  
_Shaking her head, she began rushing forward again.  
This was all another trap. She had to get out of the city.  
Find a safer place.  
Find a-  
  
Once more she stopped.  
This time however it was because something was blocking her way.  
_… not something.  
Someone._  
  
He reminded Six or the signal tower.  
Grey, black and white.  
At the top, a glowing- no, two glowing orbs.  
_Eyes._  
They stared at each other from the different ends of the street, frozen.  
A few heartbeats pumped through Six’s head-  
_Then she began running._  
Running, running, as fast as her little feet could carry her, as behind her SOMETHING approached-  
Some creature, some being-  
It wasn’t human for sure-  
_The hair on her neck was standing up.  
It felt like everything was being distorted, as if part of her was pulled upwards.  
Her skin was crawling.  
As though creatures were running all over it.  
Her head was all sort of fuzzy-_  
No, no, no he had to concentrate-  
_Rushing forward, she kept moving, trying to get forward, trying to escape this weird force that had laid itself over her, like a hand made out of-  
Nothing._  
_And yet it felt like it was going EVERYWHERE on the outside and INSIDE-_  
Finally, she jumped over a gap, crawled through a pile of rubble, she managed to climb up a smaller building, slipping down the other side with incredible speeds-  
Rushing and crushing, taking a sharp turn left, then abruptly moved to the right, trying to throw anyone off her trail, before reemerging on the street again, the static feeling inside of her almost fully gone-  
  
In front of her was _the_ street.  
The Thin Man towered above her, his white glowing eyes capturing her in their cone of light.  
She couldn’t move anymore.  
Her mind was shutting down in fear, however, oddly enough the fear felt rather far away.  
Instead in her mind, only the realization existed that-  
_‘He did not even **try** to come after me to catch me.’_  
\- and that felt somehow infinitely more insulting than anything else could have been.  
As if he knew she would run right into his arms.  
As if he made it happen.  
A long thin hand reached down to her, capturing her firmly in his grasp.  
There was no escape from here.  
Being raised up, for a moment Six came face to face with the Thin Man, for a moment wondering if he would try to eat her- he wouldn’t be the first one doing it to a living, breathing being.  
For a moment they stayed in this position, watching one another’s face.  
Six’s jacket had slipped back a little-  
And from down here she had a perfect view of what it actually looked like under the hat, that cast deep, dark shadows, obscuring everything.  
Her struggles that had started up, abruptly subsided again as she managed to look into the Thin Man’s eyes.  
  
_They were gentle._  
  
Six couldn’t think of a single being that she had met that had eyes like that.  
Even the wildlife, which sometimes were in books described as gentle, weren’t like this at all.  
The eyes of the bunnies he had managed to catch a glimpse at- of the birds too- were wild, haunted, constantly mortified.  
They looked at you, eyes always wide and primal.  
_There was no such thing as friend or foe, there only was foe or nobody._  
Wide eyes, cold and primal-  
The same went for the kids he had met so far.  
_Wide eyes._  
Maybe that was the closest to gentle this world had.  
Yes, she thought so-  
But there was something in the Thin Man’s eyes that was- different.  
Despite his pupils being big underneath all the glow and the shade of the hat, it wasn’t the empty, glassy sort of wide, not the one of the children and the animal- it was wide, _but full._  
Full with an emotion that were incredibly foreign to Six.  
She stopped struggling.  
Somehow she felt-  
_Calmer._  
_Not in danger._  
Which was very weird, considering she was currently a few feet from the ground and face to face with a being that was nothing short of dangerous.  
The man who was holding her began walking forward, moving- weirdly.  
No, not them, everything around them was moving weirdly past them, shifting back and forth, as though the entire world around them was being twisted, rushing past them, until they stood in front of the signal tower within a few seconds.  
The giant doors opened as they entered.  
Sleepily Six tried to curl up a bit.  
The hand holding her was warm, even if it seemed so grey and lifeless.  
Despite everything going on right now, no thoughts were really making their way into her head, aside from the utter knowledge that Mono would NEVER find her here.  
_… she hoped he wouldn’t try._  
Wasting time and energy in this world was a potential death sentence.  
  
The world inside the tower was pink.  
Pink.  
Well- not a bright one. A purplish magenta.  
Deep and dreamy.  
Six didn’t expect to find someone else who was a fan of this color. She herself surprisingly was, even if yellow came at a close second.  
Her eyes wandered back up to the thin man, who was still looking back down at her patiently.  
She wanted to say something for once.  
_Talking wasn’t really her forte, never been._  
If you could stay quiet, you should stay quiet, for your own sake. You never knew who was listening in. What was stalking the shadows, on the hunt.  
… however, now that she had no reason to be concerned about that it was as though she forgot how to do it at all.  
No, no, that couldn’t be right.  
Opening her mouth, she tried to let out a somewhat creaky voice.  
_“… so this is your home, huh? A bit big for just one person.”  
_The Thin Man’s smile grew wider, surprisingly it never lost his friendliness by doing so.  
To Six’s even bigger surprise however the Thin Man answered in return, his voice sounding dusty and old- not in terms of age, but-  
_Worn out._  
That was the word.  
Worn out.  
_“… I have to agree with you, Six.”_  
“How do you know my name?!”  
The more she used her voice, the more comfortable she grew with it.  
The Thin Man hesitated for a moment.  
“If you know my name, I should know yours too! This all does not seem very fair.”  
It was nice to see the Thin Man smile.  
Or maybe all smiles were nice, and the Thin Man was simply the only one who ever did around her.  
Perhaps Six should smile back, but she didn’t know how and why, so for now she decided to stick to simply glaring at him a little more.  
“My name and the reason why I know yours are one and the same…”  
“ _What_.”  
Just as patient as before, the Thin Man elaborated.  
“… my name is Mono.”  
For a moment Six froze inside the grip, staring up at him-  
Then she scoffed.  
_“I am maybe stupid enough to get trapped by you, but I certainly am not stupid enough to fall for THAT! Who do you think I am!?”_  
Instantly this grey person frowned, his whole face dropping, looking like a kicked puppy.  
_An expression Six knew too well._  
“O-okay, you ARE very convincing at pretending to be him. But I still will not believe you.”  
“But- Six. It's really me.”  
“We JUST separated. How would you have grown THIS old in this short amount of time?!”  
Mono looked REALLY disappointed and upset.  
“It is a complicated story. The signal tower… changes time. Somehow.”  
“So you traveled through time to TERRIFY me?! What is WRONG with you, Mono?! Why did you think that was a GOOD IDEA!? Just WALTZING around like you own the city and follow me and you around, that was FREAKY and I almost died of shock!”  
Hanging his head in shame, Mono was allowing the girl in the yellow raincoat to go off on him, merely nodding along to her words until the girl was finally done, huffing.  
“A-and what even is with you parallel existing to yourself! That is weird! Stop it!”  
“I can’t!”  
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN’T-“  
It took a moment for both of them to calm down and Mono to continue his way, opening his palm carefully as Six made obvious attempts to get out.  
Once he did they looked at each other, Six seemingly tempted to jump out and run off-  
  
Instead though she began climbing his arm to sit on his shoulder.  
It managed to cause Mono to smile once more.  
_He couldn’t remember ever having smiled this much in his life._  
  
“… alright, let us say you ARE Mono. What happened to you?”  
“… it is complicated, I already told you.” He looked away, until his ear was grabbed and pulled on. “OW- SIX!”  
_“You think you can just keep secrets from me!? Who do you think you are?! Just because you are big now does not mean I cannot beat you one on one!”  
_“AH- _please_ \- I JUST-“  
“FIGHT ME! I DARE YOU! HIT ME! YOU WILL NOT LEAVE A SINGLE SCRATCH!”  
“Six I don’t WANT to-“  
_“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH-“_  
There were tears of pain in his eyes, but Mono couldn’t help but to laugh as well.  
_“… you haven’t changed one bit-“_  
“We are the same age, of course I have not changed.”  
Blinking Mono slightly turned to her. “… uh, Six, I am not sure if you realize this, but I am-“  
“Last time I asked you, you were the same age as me. So you still are. Just because you are long now does not mean you get special privileges.”  
“… you suddenly seem very much on board with me being Mono-“  
“Yeah, you are just as pathetic as you always have been. _Cannot imitate that.”_  
“ _Ouch_.”  
“Yeah, I bet that hurt, Mono. You are this tall and still cannot crush me like a bug because you are like a crumpling paper bag in body AND soul!”  
Maybe Mono hadn’t heard Six’s confident, forceful voice in so long that it was a relief…  
_… maybe Mono was a bit too nostalgic._  
However, this was already a major improvement over everything he had experienced before.  
_The good part.  
This was the good part._  
He reached gently for Six, placing her back safely in his hands, much to the girl’s chagrin.  
“Watch yourself, Mono. I could bite your fingers!”  
The precision of the signal tower extended to him.  
It allowed him to look into minds, to open them up, to provide those who wanted it with entertainment.  
And now he could look into Six’s mind- for just a moment.  
_“And eat them?”_  
It was deathly silent for a moment- then Six became red in the face, scrambling to pull her coat back over to cover her face.  
This strong of a reaction drew the same in kind from Mono, who despite his form has gained neither maturity nor clarity. Though he had to live with only being able to tip his hat down slightly and looking somewhere else.  
… indeed, he and Six might still have some feelings to sort out from back then- feelings he had forgotten about.  
_Or repressed._  
Finally Six broke the silence again, not acknowledging the odd tension between them.  
“… so, why did you drag me here anyways?”  
Great, after everything, finally an answer he could give confidently!  
“Because the signal tower is safe.”  
_“Safe? You say this giant monster place is safe?”_  
“I mean, I lived in here for a long time.”  
They looked at each other, and Mono could feel his embarrassment rise again as Six VERY skeptically inspected his appearance as if to tell him that what he became was in no way normal.  
However, she seemed to put that point away for later.  
“… there is no food in here. Or anything really. _It is boring, I might rather pick my chances.”_  
Frankly, that was a lie- Six had been looking for a place to stay for a whole long while by now. But she owed herself some Token resistance, didn’t she?  
Mono’s grey face lit up at that.  
“Oh, that’s no problem! I can get us what we need. Are you hungry? Or would you rather have something to play? We could start decorating your room!”  
  
_They’ve been at this for a few hours by now._  
“More Teddy’s, but over there.”  
“Alright, then-“  
“AND over there. Otherwise it will not look good.”  
“But there are the-“  
_“Well, put the dolls away again, it cannot be THAT hard.”_  
“Six, you just-“  
“Oh, and I want maybe rugs on the wall instead of pictures. Put some up so that I can see what it would feel like. I would NOT want the entire room to become stuff, but…”  
She trailed off.  
The room was in a pinkish hue, and FILLED with clutter.  
Mono looked EXHAUSTED, but followed Six’s often paradoxical instructions.  
“Will this suffice?”  
“ _No_. I hate the rugs, actually. Makes me feel like in a padded cell! Put some nice pictures up again. _Perhaps some of you_.”  
“Wh-“  
“No, never mind. Make it nice landscaping images.” Six’s teeth flashed beneath the coat in a grin, leaving Mono with the upsetting feeling of being messed with once more.  
Well, NO longer!  
“Six. _How about this_?”  
Out of nowhere, a music box formed in the middle of the room, Six ABRUPTLY jumping down to rush over and try it out.  
_A familiar melody from way back when._  
Its soft melody filled the room, bringing a sense of peace with it.  
As Six patiently spun the crank in circles, Mono joined in, sitting down with her and leaning back, closing his eyes.  
After a while, the music shortly stopped, then Mono felt small hand on his leg, before Six shifted on top of him, sitting on his lap and leaning against his stomach.  
Then the melody started up again.  
  
_“… you have to get your- younger self, right Mono?”_  
“Hm?”  
They had been sleeping like this for a while but all good things had to come to an end.  
“… Mono. You are still out there, right? As a kid. What if you got hurt out there?! What if your younger self dies…? _Plus, it is- not fair. You deserve being here as much as I do.”_  
Pained Mono hesitated.  
He wouldn’t be able to get around this.  
“I suppose you are right.”  
Six slipped off him, clutching her music box, looking up at him as he rose to his full height.  
“… can you even- like- touch your younger self?”  
“Yes, but… I’m assuming I’ll be fusing again with my younger version once we enter the tower. I’m sure the tower will make it happen- two signals simply overlap.”  
_“Will that… hurt you?”_  
“No.”  
It was a smooth lie. Six had never learned how well Mono could lie when it came to himself.  
Yet, despite this, there was worry in the way Six tilted her head.  
Even after decades passing, Mono knew by heart how Six acted when she was worried, concerned, fearful, angry-  
… they had been through a lot indeed.  
_A cycle of these four emotions, over and over and over-_  
And now Six was happy.  
_… he had to try and preserve that..._  
“I will be back soon, Six. One way or another.”  
“Wait, what is that supposed to m-“  
“And while I am gone… please, don’t play the music box. Until I’m back, keep it quiet. Or at least- try to. _Can you do that?”_  
“W-why?!”  
Sadly Mono smiled, fuzzy memories at the edge of his mind.  
“… I want to be there to hear you play.” Gently he reached out to pet Six over his head, then he withdrew, moving to the door. “We will see each other again.”  
“You sound… like that is not a given.” Six mumbled, clutching the box.  
“No.” Fully confident, Mono stood up straighter, the top of his hat gracing over the top of the large doorframe. “ _It is guaranteed. And until then- you’re safe in here, I promise._  
  
With that he left.  
  
_The silence was deafening and upsetting.  
Six wanted to cry.  
It has been a long time- or maybe it just felt that way.  
Who knows what the tower did- if it threw you through time, then-  
Her shaking fingers grabbed more tightly around the box.  
Then she took a shaking breath and began cranking the music box.  
She was sorry for failing, but she would play more when Mono was back. She promised that to herself.  
The music filled the room.  
It helped her feel calm.  
She closed her eyes and enjoyed the melody for now._


	8. The Beau

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Geisha has dealt with many things in her lifetime. 
> 
> A gathered bouquet from a strange admirer was not one of those things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this in the name of EQUALITY.  
> ... I'm not even kidding, but aside from me wanting to write in inverse of ThinMono and Six interacting, the concept of the time loop opens up the chance for them to meet in this combination too, making me think a LOT...  
> I like to think that if there is ONE thing to break the Geisha's steelen determination to continue the path she is going- then it's her oldest friend, the one person she cannot transform or harm at all.

The guests had entered, the first feast had passed, but still, preparations were in full swing.  
The Lady had plenty of tasks around the Maw, even when she wasn’t tasked with cooking, cleaning, caring for the accommodations and the care for the meal-  
No, instead her task was to be present, graceful and naturally, entertaining.  
Because that was what a Geisha did.  
Between singing, dancing and telling stories, aside from planning, organizing and watching the course of the ship, she had hardly had a quiet moment for herself in the first few days of the guests arriving.  
Naturally, the more would be slaughtered and reused, the easier her tasks would get- but the deal was and always would be that in return for their bodies and life, any and all guests would experience the closest thing to heaven that this wretched place had to offer.  
Endless entertainment and the presence of beauty and culture was a given.  
Educational, funny, fascinating, perhaps even horrifying displays were what they had signed up for, what they were right to demand.  
It was tiring, but the harvest made it worth it.  
Still.  
She was glad to be back inside of her quarters.  
These calm, quiet moments were desperately needed, to allow her mind to settle down again and keeping herself from losing her bearing.  
_Their eyes disgusted her._  
_Their presence disgusted her._  
The longer the journey went on, the more animalistic they would get and she never looked forward to that- however, on the flipside, at least it meant they were asking for less entertainment outside of meat and fish.  
For now she was standing in front of her broken mirror, relaxing by brushing her long, smooth hair and humming her favorite melody to herself, calming down her mind and soul as she prepared for the next session.  
Between the notes, she sighed, breathing out and losing a slight bit of the tension in her body.  
_God, she was tired._  
At least she didn’t have to smile below her mask, all she had to do was to speak, nobody would care about her expression.  
… it was a blessing and a curse.  
Reaching up, she shortly put a tiny gap between the mask and her skin below, adjust it and giving her heated skin a short break, rubbing over it.  
Then she gave into her own weakness for a moment, sinking down onto the chair, resting leaned against the vanity dresser.  
_Tomorrow would be another day.  
Perhaps an easier one._  
For a few moments the entire room was quiet, only the gentle creaking of the waves outside of the ship still made it through to here. Even the guests were almost inaudible through the thick metal walls.  
A silence that seemed all-consuming-  
_  
But then something sounded._  
  
Instantly sitting up again, Six turned a little, surveying the room around him.  
The doors were all still closed.  
Nothing was moving.  
Nothing-  
_“Psst. Hey!”_  
Abruptly Six stood up, approaching towards where she had heard the noise.  
What could have dared to disturb her rest?!  
What kind of suicidal creature would enter like this, daring to taunt her?!  
If it was one of the children that kept trying to escape, well-  
_She knew what to do with those critters.  
Turn them into something useful._  
Perhaps there was some sort of trap set, but there was nothing they could truly do. The children fooled themselves into all sort of dreams and hopes, to attempt and retain their sanity, it was useless however.  
_Useless_.  
All she needed was to find the little pest.  
She stepped further into the darkness that bend to her will, washing away to reveal-  
Nothing.  
All of a sudden, from behind her-  
“ _Heyyyy_!”  
Instantly spinning on the spot, she turned around once more-  
  
_A small bouquet was placed on the wood in front of the mirror._  
  
Once more the Lady looked around in the room, but it was quiet, there was nothing.  
Slowly she approached the mirror again, reaching out to pick up the bouquet.  
It was small, but vibrant, and after a short smell it turned out that these were actually real flowers.  
How… did the gift-giver even find these?  
And where did they come from?  
Out of the mirror?!  
_Ridiculous_. She’d know if someone with such exceptional reality-bending powers were to enter the Maw, even when luring exceptional children from all over the world here.  
And well, those were children, who had anything else in mind than to bring FLOWERS to the Geisha of the ship that was keeping them prisoner and presumably about to consume them.  
Her eyes lingered on the bright pink and yellow flowers that were in her hands now, before she gently let her fingers wander over the fresh leaves and gentle, smooth flower petals.  
Slowly she reached for a highly decorated vase that hadn’t seen a flower in perhaps decades.  
These were at most mere symbols of cultures, with long lost purpose-  
Today however this object was reawakened to its true meaning…  
Meticulously she began arranging the flowers.  
_“… I was no expecting to be offered flowers today.”_ For once, Six spoke, trying to listen to any sort of footsteps or breathing. “I would have prepared something more suitable if so. This vase is not an appropriate vessel for an “ _ikebana_ ”, which is a traditional Japanese artform surrounding the arranging of flowers and branches _. I could have perhaps shown you a little bit about it… it is a rather complex set of rules and meanings._ There is barely anything which cannot be expressed with the right flowers, form and vessel… but you have given me quite too little greenery. You see, in ikebana, the flowers are merely a part of big arrangement, nothing but another piece to convey the greater meaning of the world.”  
Very carefully she adjusted the spacing within the vase.  
Waiting.  
Listening.  
For the gift-giver to reveal themselves.  
“However, that is different in England, most of the western world actually. Yet still, it is sweet to know that most cultures have learned to appreciate nature _. Even if their focus is very much… how to I put it… narrow_. Yes, that was always what was so weird about you people… such a narrow view. Saving a life for a moment, sacrificing thousands in the future, that is what your kind does. It is about the moment, the second and in a twisted way, I think it is beautiful.”  
Carefully she placed the vase down on her vanity dresser, accepting that the being who had brought this was already gone again.  
“… and I do wish to respect your way of expressing yourself. _So I will keep this gift here_.”  
  
It quickly had become quite a routine.  
An oddly frustrating one.  
After her performances she returned to her room, sometimes the flowers were already there, sometimes this quiet voice called her attention away and when she looked back, the flowers were where she had been just a moment ago.  
Sometimes with some more greenery, bamboo and wood, fern and of course pink and yellow flowers. They still were none she knew carried any sort of meaning.  
“Bringing me flowers again, are you? My, my. Do you like my performances this much?”  
Nothing happened.  
Gently she added the plants to her display, adding them in lovingly, making them blend in seemingly as though they always had belonged there.  
“… I think the correct English term for you would be a Beau. A sweet admirer, traditionally a male. It is quite the wonderful word if you ask me. _Beau_.”  
As she spoke her words her eyes wandered again.  
There was no way to spot the being.  
Even with all of her preparations, there was nothing that seemed to manage to capture it!  
It hid from sight and listened to her- it must be hiding among the guests as well somehow to listen to her performances.  
The praise and gifts came at the cost of her ego… and she despised it.  
_At least partially._  
  
If she liked it or not, she quite liked this little admirer who’s attention she had captured.  
Whoever it was, they were intelligent, nimble and even quite strong.  
And they had peculiar abilities.  
However, she was not about to let herself be beaten by some enigma, no matter how many desirable traits they carried.  
The traps were set.  
The magic inside of the eyes was readied, it would turn anything that was exposed to it to stone, at least until he deemed the time right to free them.  
She had carefully ensured there was no blind spot.  
… of course, she would free his newfound prisoner soon enough to decide what its permanent fate would be.  
There would be some mercy… after all this being had been quite charming.  
Yet still, she had a VERY high reputation to uphold, a reputation that would not allow for any sort of disobedience like this to go unpunished.  
Sneaking into her quarters and getting away with it?  
Quite frankly, it could even turn dangerous for her.  
If this beau turned on her and lead up children… what a disarray that would be!  
So, fully prepared she opened the door to her quarters and-  
Nothing.  
Looking around, to his shock- _and deep disappointed_ \- there was nothing there.  
No flowers, no leaves, nothing.  
It seemed like this being had not watched her show today.  
_Tragic_.  
_It had been her last show for the next while and she had made it very clear before._  
For a moment she paced up and down, then abruptly stopped, catching herself feeling amounts of rage and annoyance that she shouldn’t.  
_No, no, she didn’t care.  
Not at all.  
The flowers had merely been a nice distraction, nothing else.  
Just something to keep her busy after work.  
She never even wanted them._  
Taking a sharp breath, she turned once more, stepping close to the mirror.  
Regardless, well- surely this being had realized its mistake and turned to flee, knowing what kinds of things the Geisha could do to it.  
Surely.  
That had to be it.  
_It wouldn’t return, there would never be flowers like these on her desk again.  
… things were how they were supposed to be._  
Slowly she sat down and closed her eyes.  
Silence.  
_Sweet_ silence.  
It had been too much anyways, never feeling quite alone in here.  
Having someone approach her so brashly.  
_Brutish, really._  
She sat still on her place, stopping the unending movement of her body and mind.  
Then…  
… her mind went quiet again.  
At least-  
It WAS, until before her something light landed.  
Her eyes snapped open to see a single flower, a red rose.  
For a moment she stared like hypnotized.  
_“… red flowers are rather unlucky in the Japanese culture… they are destructive… like fire… though in some cultures destruction is a message of recreation…”_  
Another flower landed in front of her, from above and finally Six managed to look up.  
Above her a boy in a paperbag mask sat between the wooden supports beams, looking down at her, before jumping onto the table, rose petals flying everywhere.  
  
The Lady simply froze.  
A billion thoughts and feelings went through her head, however, only two kept jumping back and forth-  
_How did he find me?_  
and  
_Does he know who I am?_  
  
The boy in the mask hesitated for just a moment, then he put out his scratched hand that was holding a bundle of roses.  
His voice was surprisingly confident.  
“… your voice is really pretty. I’m a big fan!”  
  
The Geisha, who had just managed to shake off her paralysis was PROMPTLY frozen again.  
This time however, it was shock of a different kind.  
_Did she REALLY just hear that?  
Did-  
Did Mono REALLY just jump from the ceiling after a potentially mind-breaking journey through the Maw to-  
No- no, no, no, he had to have gone INSANE!  
… that however didn’t answer her question on how she was to react to this_.  
  
Almost automatically she raised her hand to accept the bouquet of roses, staring transfixed into the little black eyeholes.  
“… _thank… you…?”_  
For a moment both of them stared at each other, clearly unsure of what to do.  
Then Six quietly huffed.  
“… what are you doing here? How did you get in here?”  
“Oh, that’s easy! There’s a few holes in the ground and ceiling. I’m small enough to go basically everywhere!”  
“I- never mind that, where are you _from_?”  
“What do you mean?” Innocently the kid tilted his head.  
“I mean, how did you board the ship? Usually- children are not supposed to-“  
“Oh, that was also easy!” Suddenly he seemed to realize that he probably hadn’t been SUPPOSED to enter the ship. “A-ah, but it also was an accident, I swear. I was spat out by a TV.”  
“And you simply decided to stay?!”  
“… yeah, it’s nice here. Okay, no-“ Mono admitted. “ _It was terrible and scary here, at least I thought that at first, because the guests are freaky and the chefs a bit too motivated to- experiment with new ingredients-_ but then I heard you sing!”  
If it hadn’t been for the mask, the Lady was sure she would have been blinded by the bright light of Mono’s delighted face.  
“A-and I really loved it! I wanted to hear it again! So I decided to stick around.”  
Thankfully Six’s mask didn’t show any sort of emotion, so to Mono it looked like she was merely staring, when in her mind the Geisha experienced the whole spectrum of emotions that she was capable of, from pride to anger to sadness to utter anxiety.  
Her words were still well controlled though.  
“Ah. So I take you were sticking around in the upper decks? Were you on the surface yet…?”  
“No, I haven’t, the doors were locked and I didn’t want to get lost.”  
The way he looked up at her, with admiration-  
But Six could only internally pick him up and shake him.  
_God, he hadn’t seen ANYTHING? None of the kids, not the prison, not the chefs creating their meals- he had just been wandering around, not having an INKLING of what was going on-_  
Maybe she should thank her lucky stars, however-  
This was bad.  
The loop was endangered now.  
And while she could use the magic to keep the Maw timeless, she didn’t want to have to uphold such a thing.  
Sending Mono back would be difficult, seeing as he could _just damn well walk back in and ruin everything-  
_With a sigh, the Lady picked the boy up with her dark magic, to inspect him and while Mono seemed a little bit nervous, he wasn’t in any way scared.  
_Mono had always been a damn idiot with a heart TWICE the size of his brain and it couldn’t be a big heart considering his tiny body_.  
… god.  
_… had Mono really been this tiny back then?_  
She remembered him as a force to be reckoned with, heavier and stronger than herself, always rushing into foolish decisions.  
Now he was… just… _small_.  
“Uh- could you please put me back down? I like the view, but-“  
Promptly Six did, raising her hand to her masked forehead.  
“… Mono, I want you to-“  
“What did you just call me?”  
For a moment Six froze up, choosing her explanation carefully.  
“… Mono. It is… a way to refer to something in Japanese.”  
“Oh. Cool! I like it!” Cheerful the boy leaned over, mindlessly changing the topic. “Is it true that this was your last performance?!”  
“Yes. At this point in time, most guest move on to more interesting things.”  
“What?! What could be more interesting than you?!”  
Slightly Six winced, as her mind experienced an emotion that she had thought she was exempt from-  
Mono who seemingly realized what he had been saying, abruptly reached up to pull his mask down further, clearly fully flustered.  
“I- I- I m-meant- uh- ah- h-haha-“  
_“Food, Mono. Food is more interesting.”_  
“C-can’t be!”  
A small snort escaped Six’s nose and she tried to suppress any further noise after that.  
However, she wasn’t fast enough.  
“Did… did you just laugh?”  
“ _No_.”  
“No, I think that sounded like-“  
“You know, perhaps you are not a Beau at all, maybe you are merely a regular brat. Your behavior is abhorrent.”  
Looking up at her with a distraught expression, instantly Mono looked like a kicked puppy again- a face Six KNEW too.  
_One she never really had been able to resist._  
She sighed.  
“Okay, listen- if you want to stay on the Maw, you either need a ticket or you work. Do you have a ticket?”  
“… no…?”  
“Then I suppose you will have to make yourself useful.” Standing up fully straight, Six gave him a glare. “There are not many jobs for someone as small as you, so you will have to be creative.”  
“I can be very creative!” Motivated the boy stretched himself a little. “And I’m stronger than you think! I like solving problems.”  
_“… okay, settle down, this ship can be dangerous and this attitude can get you killed.”  
_“Y-you’re worried about me?!”  
“ _No_.”  
With that Six turned away to move to the map.  
… she would hand-deliver the boy to the signal tower if she had to.  
Anything for the loop. It mattered more in the long run.  
_And until then…_  
Shortly she glanced back at Mono who was climbing down the table.  
_… she would have to keep him busy and alive_.


	9. School Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Six and Mono go to a nice school and take care of each other-  
> However, Mono discovers to his horror that school is much less kind to Six than he first expected.  
> It seems like an emergency campfire is in order.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Requested by the kind Dannybakugo, thank you very much again!  
> Despite it very much being an AU, I tried to adhere to some of the themes of the source material and remix it in fun ways!
> 
> School AU, Mono&Six, Mono is her very protective older brother!
> 
> Warnings:  
> None, honestly. Mentions of bullying and Mono planning to intimidate a bunch of bullies, but nothing too graphic!

The routine was simple, but effective.  
 _Step one, let the first sunbeams wake you up._  
Mono’s bed was placed very exactly in a way that the sun would shine into his face at a certain hour in the morning. Every week he moved his bed a slight bit, to account for the sun rising earlier and earlier, but overall this was the best way he had found himself able to wake up.  
And it wasn’t like this bed was heavy- it was merely a matrass on the ground.   
It was good enough though!  
Yawning he stretched his arms and listened to the birds.   
Then he stood up.  
 _Step two and three go hand in hand, but it is CRUCIAL to not mess up the order here anyways.  
Step two, make breakfast.  
Step three, wake Six.  
_There HAD been times when Mono hadn’t perfectly timed it and dear god, it had been quite the nightmare. Six may was small, but lord knows, she was VICIOUS when she was hungry, both with the things she said and did.  
But also, she wanted to be there as SOON as the sausages and egg could be put onto the plate, together with the fresh toast- she could easily get cranky if that wasn’t happening.  
It was fine though, because her older brother had PERFECTED the art of waking Six.  
It had to do with a difficult mathematical equation, accounting for the size of the egg, the volume of the sausage and how sunny the day outside was.  
Just as he deemed the sausages good enough, he heard little footsteps behind him and as he turned, Six stood there in her pajamas,.  
There was no way to get Six to put on day clothes- or do ANYTHING- before her breakfast, so Mono saw no reason to try it.  
“Good Morning!” Cheerful he said, putting the food down onto the plate, not expecting a bigger response than a muffled ‘mfwms’ before Six forked the entire sausage onto her spoon and demolished it.  
A little bit Mono smiled to himself, before taking his own, significantly smaller portion and dug in too, enjoying another good morning.   
When Six was done- a process that took barely more than five minutes- she finally yawned and seemed more aware of her surroundings.   
Mono used this chance to have a bit of chatter.  
“Another day of school! Anything special going on today?”  
For a moment Six was quiet, then she shrugged.   
“Sport,” the unenthused answer came.  
Slightly the taller one frowned. “… that’s something good though, right? You’re great at sport!”   
“I guess.” Uncommitted Six shrugged, before turning her attention turned back to Mono, her expression turned into the usual mischievous delight.   
_Oh no, what was it this time-_  
“… Six, you look at me weird.”  
“Your hair stands up again! You are full of static!”   
“Wha- oh, darnit!” Reaching up, Mono tried to comb down his hair that indeed was standing up into all direction. “I swear, it’s this chair! It constantly charges me.”   
“But it does not do the same to me!”   
“Yeah, because you’re rubber. You’re wearing your raincoat so much, that your skin is all like it.”  
Pleased Six smiled. _“I am rubber, you are glue, what bounces off me sticks to you!”_   
“Exactly. I guess I’m getting all your static too.”   
“But the question is… if I am indeed rubber… and you are really glue… would I stick to you?” Playfully Six cowered down, ready to jump him. “ _Only one way to find out-”_   
“HOLD IT!” Reaching his hand out towards his sister, he dramatically stopped the fiend. “Do you really want to do that right now? I am charged. I am a loose canon! I could zap you! Or myself!”   
Truly reconsidering, Six inspecting him- before squeaking and jumping back as Mono playfully swiped at her.  
“Too late, Six, I’m out of control! Run!”   
Making noises of playful fear, Six rushed off, Mono followed after her, making dramatic groaning noises, as though he was in the middle of a transformation.  
“RuuuuUUUuuuUn, Six- proooOOOtEeeeECt yooOOUuuURseeeEEElf-“  
The chase ended with the younger one smashing the of her room closed, Mono patiently waiting outside.   
When the doors opened once more, Six was wearing her yellow raincoat, grinning up at him awfully smugly, before her face was smushed by Mono pressing on her cheeks from both sides.  
“Aw, dammit. Seems you’re safe. I guess I’m going to go back to normal now.”   
Six laughed.  
Despite her being smart, Mono wasn’t QUITE sure if she knew that he discharged himself on the doorknob before ever trying to touch her not risking anything.   
There was no way he’d ever be causing her pain.  
Leaving the girl to her devices, Mono gathered his own things, until both of them were ready to go out and to school.   
Last but not least, as Six tied her shoes, Mono put on his grey fedora, that hid the majority of his face with the shadow it cast.  
Besides him a scoff sounded and curious he looked down.  
Unprompted Six spoke up.  
“You know, I used to want to be like you…”   
“Aw- _wait, used to want!?_ What happened?”   
Carefully Mono opened the door, allowing Six to jump out and into one of the puddles that had been formed outside- seemingly it had rained the night before.  
“Weeeeeeeell, you started wearing that stupid, ugly hat. If becoming like you means wearing a hat like that, I would rather not.”  
“What- seriously?!” Slightly Mono looked upwards at it. Sure, he knew that Six didn’t LIKE the hat, but that she hated it so much…? “… why? It’s just a hat.”  
“I do not know.” The kid grumbled. “It makes you look so old. I really, really hate that. I do not WANT you to grow old.”  
Slightly taken aback the older brother hesitated a moment.  
“Why? We all grow older. And when we grow older, we can do more cool stuff! Driving cars! Staying up all night! Choose what we want to do all day!”   
Still kicking around in the puddle, Six refused to look at him. “… if you grow older, then maybe you will be more mean to me. Like the teacher. Or the doctor.”   
“Oh, Six, they’re just-“ He tried to wreck his brain for an explanation that didn’t blame their age. “They’re busy.”   
The issue wasn’t quite that they were just mean, or that they were actually busy, but Six had the awful habit of wreaking havoc upon the places she visited, constantly switching important things up, lying and distracting the adults until they got angry with her.  
… he didn’t want to make her feel like it was her fault though. She just- was like this.   
The girl didn’t seem to believe him either way though.   
“All adults are busy. Either with work or with the TV. And they get so mad when you try to show them something cool.”   
“Well, I would never become one of them. I think there’s nothing cooler than you, no matter how old we are!”   
“… but- there are so many things that could happen and-“  
Crouching down slightly, Mono reached out, softly calling for Six to look at him.  
“ _Oi_. Six. Quit that gloomy face- I told you it wouldn’t happen and I thought you promised to trust me!”   
“… I guess…”  
Finally looking up, Six reluctantly left the puddle, reaching for his hand and taking it tightly, letting him move along with her in toe.   
As they walked side by side, Six spoke up one more time.  
“… your hat still looks really stupid and old-timey though.”  
“Fine, fine. Maybe I’ll try some others out. I just really like this one.”  
“Your clothes get more boring too.”  
“Six, not many things fit me and some things fit me better than they used to. It’s still what I always was wearing!” Changing topics, he smiled. “Will you see that kid today during the break? Seven?”   
“… maybe. I do not know.”  
“Why? Did you not agree to meet up to hang out? I thought you two might become good friends.”  
“… I do not think we will.” She was unusually quiet. “… we do not like the same games.”  
“Ah, of course that will make things hard…” Slightly he tried to smile to cheer his sister up. “But no matter! In the second break we can play together, like usually then!”   
And that did seem to cheer Six up.  
  
Mono felt worried for his sister.   
Guilty for spending so much time with her.  
On one hand, he didn’t want her to be alone all day in school, on the other he wondered if him offering Six to play so often was kinda discouraging her from finding new friends and playmates.   
Hanging out in the second break only was his personal compromise- though he had told Six that it had to do with the work he had to in class.  
It wasn’t like he himself was a glowing example of sociability either- but at least most people seemed to be neutral, up to friendly with him. Not having any friends was fine provided you were in a place where basically everyone was trying to be friendly on a distant basis.  
… he wasn’t sure if the same thing counted for Six.  
The bell ripped him out of his thoughts-  
Second break!  
Time to check on his sister!  
He rushed out onto the schoolyard, looking around for the bright yellow raincoat, but he couldn’t spot anyone right now. There was a fair chance she would come out later, that wasn’t too unusual.  
It became a bit more concerning when five minutes had passed and there was still no sign of her.  
Concerned he made the rounds, trying to figure out where she was-  
Another five minutes had passed when he finally found her.  
  
She was cowering behind the school, huddled against the wall, hugging her knees and… _crying_.  
  
Mortified Mono rushed towards her, dropping down next to her, ignoring the dirt around him completely.  
Six was already covered almost completely in dirt and grass and her body was shaking under her broken breaths, instantly throwing herself into her brother’s arms when he hugged her.  
“ _What- what happened!?”_  
It took a while to decipher Six’s hiccups and stutters- whenever she got this upset, she seemed to struggle to express herself- eventually though he managed to figure out what had happened. Apparently a group of bullies from her class, first and foremost two kids named Jennifor and Benny, had gathered around her when she tried to leave and- provoked her.  
“ _Th-they were standing- standing a-around me in a CIRCLE a-and they- kept throwing s-stuff at me- a-and they said I- I was like a-an a-animal- that I- I was stupid- and b-brutal- and that it w-was funny to see me scream a-and get m-me to cower d-down and cry-“_  
Mono didn’t see red.  
He never did.  
He was a very peaceful boy, who couldn’t see himself hurt anyone, no matter what they did. Not when it felt too real, not when himself had done his fair share of stupid and destructive things.  
However, there were special occasion when his vision on the world DID change.  
It felt more like-   
_Static.  
Tv static, the grey snow, it clouded his eyes and mind-  
And suddenly it felt different.   
Like it wasn’t him talking to Six, but some cartoon character.  
 **And in cartoons, violence was very much an easy and convenient way to teach someone nasty a lesson.**_  
For now though he was still hold Six tightly, allowing her to cry herself out.   
_“Th-the o-other kids i-i-in class- HATE ME!”_   
“No- no, Six please- don’t let these bullies get to you. I’m sure that is not true-“  
“ _IT IS! I KN-KNOW IT IS! E-EVERYONE IS SCARED OF ME!”_ Weeping ever harder now, she buried her face in her brother’s shoulder, leaving hot, wet spots on there. “THEY- THEY A-ARE SCARED B-BECAUSE- I- I pl-play too rough… I- I a-am mean they s-say… I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHY THEY THINK THAT! _S-SEVEN ALL-ALWAYS R-RUNS AWAY F-FROM ME- th-they started c-calling h-him the Runaway k-kid because of that_! A-and during s-sport they- THEY ALWAYS- s-start screaming and s-say I hurt them, when I- I didn’t E-EVEN TOUCH them-”   
Quietly, Mono’s heart broke in his chest.  
Six was rash, didn’t think before acting, she had the habit of saying things without filter and preferring fight and rolling around on the floor over trying to talk it out.  
But- she wasn’t EVIL.   
She just wasn’t like the other kids.  
… sometimes that was enough to become a target though though.  
Rocking her back and forth, Mono closed his eyes.  
 _“… Six… I’m sorry… things will be okay again_.” He didn’t know how. They couldn’t move away and go to a different school. They couldn’t do much. Yet, he had to say SOMETHING. _“… I’m here for you and- not everyone will be like they are. You’re strong- and you have every right to defend yourself from them too, so- I won’t get mad if you decide to push them away if they try to do something to you!”  
_ Seemingly finally slightly calmer- or just tired out- Six cuddled into him, going limp, still being cradled tightly.  
Mono petted over her back-   
Then began humming their favorite melody.  
The melody was the last thing they had from their parents and they held on tightly. The music box of course was in Six’s room, in case she woke up after a bad dream and didn’t want to wake Mono, even though he encouraged it- but Mono knew it too by heart. And while he was no singer- this did well enough.  
  
The ring of the bell broke them both out of their trance, Six finally standing up and pulling Mono up along her, seemingly a little bit more grounded again.  
Still, her brother didn’t want to let her go off like this.  
Taking her hand, he escorted her to her classroom.  
 _“Look Six- later, we’ll go into the woods together, okay? And we’ll make a big fire, you and me. Does that sound like fun?”_   
A slight smile shortly crossed the younger one’s lips.   
But the girl was also willing to exploit a good situation when she saw one.  
“I- I also want to pick your hat for the afternoon!”   
“… will it be the paperbag?” Mono asked, defeated.   
Slightly Six snickered- and that was enough to make Mono smile too.  
“… okay then. _It’s a deal_. Don’t let anyone bother you, okay? Come right to me after class.”   
“I will!”   
“Good, good. Then go and learn something!”   
  
He watched Six rush off, his smile fading, the static in front of his eyes returning.  
 _Benny and Jennifor._  
They had quite a name for themselves.  
Were loud and proud with the way they acted out towards other and running around the neighborhood, either getting what they wanted or making others as miserable as them.  
 _In his static haze Mono remembered that they had a shed full of tools that went unused.  
One of them was a very heavy hammer- heavy, but still small enough to conceal._  
He wouldn’t hurt them.  
Like before, he wasn’t a violent person.  
But perhaps a small visit to their neighborhood to prove to them that they weren’t as high and might as they though before was in order.   
Maybe slamming the hammer down near a finger or something- _  
  
_No, no he wasn’t a violent person, he wouldn’t hurt them… _  
  
He thought about Six crying uncontrollably.  
About Six being circled and called a creature, an ANIMAL.  
About his one and only sibling being demonized for being different.  
Being left all alone and in pain._  
  
… at least…   
… he wouldn’t hurt them as much as they would deserve.  
  
  
  
Later, when the stars were slowly creeping over the sky, in the back of the hut, two kids were sitting next to each other, roasting marshmallows in front of the fire.  
Or at least, Mono was doing so while Six just reached into the bag and at a handful of marshmallows at a time.  
“What do you think, how many can I fit into my mouth?!” Excited Six asked, except it sounded more like “Whaw wo wou wthinw, wow wawy waw I wiwf iwnfo wy wouf?!”  
“Not any more than you currently have.”   
“Ah- you are no fun!”   
The boy in the paperbag smiled a little.  
“Really? No fun at all?”   
“Yeah! Never! Whatever I try to do, you end up being boring. I say ‘Mono, I crave violence’ and your response is to ruffle my hair and tell me that it’s not the answer.” Playfully she stabbed with the branch towards him, getting a dodge out of her brother. “Join the evil side, Mono!”   
“Never! I have every right to stay a moral citizen!” With that he stabbed back with the branch that the marshmallow had been roasting on-  
Just for the marshmallow at the top to be promptly chomped off as it came anywhere near her.  
Shocked Mono stared at his now marshmallow-less branch.  
“Six! How COULD you! And it was just the right amount of roasted!” Pretending to be disgruntled, he looked over at her. “ _This was your master plan all along, huh_?”   
“Yep!” Pleased Six licked her lips, before grabbing another raw marshmallow.  
“How could you?! This is a grave betrayal of my trust!” Dramatic Mono lamented. “What will I do now?! Without a marshmallow and the only person I trust being the cause?! I will never trust again!”   
“Oooooor… you just start over again from the beginning.”  
Six had leaned over holding out a brand new marshmallow, a smile on her lips.  
Hesitantly her brother looked at her, before sighing and leaning in-  
“I guess you’re right- HEY!”   
As soon as he had reached for the marshmallow, Six had snapped back, putting it into her mouth and chewing with the speed of a dog who had found something it shouldn’t.  
“HOW COULD YOU. FOOL ME ONCE-“  
“We are on twice, so the shame is on yoooooou!” Playfully she grinned.  
“… you’re right, but that doesn’t make things better.”  
Mono simply grumbled, reaching into the bag himself, impaling a new marshmallow and holding it over the fire once more, while Six kicked her feet, enjoying the warmth.  
“I am just trying to make you learn that not everyone is as nice as you! You are not actually mad… are you?”   
For a second a hint of worry was visible in her face- then Mono reached over to ruffle through her hair, much to her displeasure.   
“Hey-“   
“Of course I’m not mad at you, Six. I couldn’t be!” He promised. “I love you lots and all I want is for you to stay how you are.”   
“I am trying my best.”   
“Then I’m happy. That is everything I could ever ask for.”   
With a sigh Six leaned against Mono, the bad day seeming like a faint memory now.  
They’d sit like this in front of the warm fire, until it would be very small-  
Then Mono would pick her sleeping body up and carefully carry her to bed.  
  
And tomorrow?  
Tomorrow would be another good morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, I REALLY love me some more violent Mono.  
> I do think him being a sunshine and him being the guy who breaks multiple bullies apart is something that can and should co-exist.   
> Overprotectiveness to a point of unhealthiness!
> 
> Anyways, rambles over, hope you liked this Dannybakugo!  
> Always feel free to send more requests my way ^D^


	10. Domestic activities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Maw is stuck between an iceberg and the shore of the Pale City.  
> Deciding that this was a good time to empty out the Maw and let it be checked over, the Lady decides to stay with an old friend instead.
> 
> ... turns out, causally living together with someone you haven't seen in such a long time isn't as easy as expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Both Random and victorylion asked for Lady/ThinMan fluff and by GOD did I try my best to write some good Lady/ThinMan fluff.  
> I hope it's what you two had in mind, I totally am up to write more and different things!
> 
> Warnings:  
> Not any major ones, but it IS set after the betrayal- it doesn't get thematized a lot except for a few moments of angst.  
> The Lady is being suggestive during this exactly ONCE, because deep down she is still feral and loves to mess with people (who am I kidding with deep down, it's right under the plated gold).   
> I hope that makes nobody uncomfortable, but if it does, here's your warning!

Wind was blowing, HOWLING around the Signal Tower, bring ice, storm and destruction.  
The North Wind was roaming once more.  
It would find no home in the Pale City, the North Wind never found any home anywhere-  
But he wasn’t what mattered right now.  
The real issue was the ice.  
 _Thick blocks of it, everywhere, it was so cold that even the ocean was slowing down, becoming a problem for-_  
  
There were doors, everywhere.   
Some people understood doors better than others, they understood transitions, perhaps they even knew about limbo…  
… most people who understood doors would never share that secret.  
Doors opened for Six.  
They always did.   
And they opened to wherever they needed to.  
Even… _this_ door.  
 _His door._  
It was a risk. It was dangerous. If she decided to enter, she might never leave again.  
Yet she was willing to do it.  
 _Why_?  
  
 _The doors swung open._  
  
Instantly the Thin Man stood up from his chair, the hair on his neck standing up, as his fingers felt icy cold, much like the wind howling outside of the tall walls of the Signal Tower.  
Nothing happened in and around the Tower that he wouldn’t KNOW-  
And he knew, he knew that SHE was here-  
 _The Geisha-_  
Six.  
Stepping down the stairs, the first step was slow, the second moved further, the third was already taking two steps at once and before he knew it, he was rushing down the stairs, his heart beating in his chest wildly, painfully, he could feel the air against face, his hat almost flying off-  
 _Just before he took the last turn, he abruptly stopped, adjusted he suit and hat to look well-put together once more._  
Solemnly he stepped into view, spotting the smaller figure in the entrance instantly, but desperately trying to not look, not stare.  
She was here.  
 _SHE was here._  
So many things he wanted to say. To ask about.  
What would he do when Six was standing in front of him?  
Scream?  
Attack her?  
Break down and cry?  
 _What would Six do when she was standing in front of him?  
Would… SHE scream?   
Would SHE cry?  
Beg for forgiveness?  
EXPLAIN it?  
… say that she missed him…?  
_  
Then abruptly, the moment of truth came.  
They stood in front of each other, Six was smaller than him, going barely to his chest.  
Yet she FELT taller, the way she stood.  
Straight and tense, staring up at him.  
  
Mono stared down, wrecking his head for a sentence, a greeting, perhaps an accusation, ANYTHING to get through to her.  
He looked into the mask, into the eyes that revealed barely anything but darkness.  
 _They were HERE, they had met again, after everything and now- now there would be either reconciliation or total destruction, they would face it all, unpack all the pain and-_  
As though in slow motion, he saw the Geisha’s face move, as she was speaking…  
The words only barely reaching him.  
“… the waters have frozen over. Safe travel is almost impossible, and no guests can arrive, which is why I chose to anchor myself to the harbor of the Pale City. I will stay until it has gotten warmer, and I expect you to have no issue with it.”  
A short moment long you would have been able to hear a pin drop.  
Or the gears in the Thin Man’s head turn.  
 _“Y-yes_?”   
The answer came out unsure, as if asking if this was the right answer.  
The Geisha just raised her hand however and clapped, a bundle of gnomes rushing by, carrying luggage, decorated with eyes and of a bright yellow color.  
As the Lady was instructing them where to put everything, Mono STARED at her from behind, asking himself what just had happened. _Did he really allow Six to simply WALTZ in here and take this place over as her own?!  
_ This… wasn’t at all the reunion that he had expected.   
He jumped a little as Six turned around abruptly, staring him down.  
“… anything you would like to say, Thin Man?”   
_“… yellow looked better on you.”_  
His words were just STUMBLING out and the Geisha stared up to him, flabbergasted.  
“… I see…?”   
At least now BOTH of them were awkward.  
Finally, Mono gathered his courage to ask THE question.  
“Six, why-“  
“Not now, Mono. I am getting comfortable. _Hey- you guys, stop idling. If you are done, then maybe find your own little place to stay_!”   
With that the Geisha left to tend to the gnomes, leaving the Thin Man behind, looking like a kicked puppy.  
  
  
It had been a few days since Six had made herself home here and slowly but surely, things got easier. Somehow the girl managed to ALWAYS avoid Mono when he tried to ask his question-  
But that got easier too, as he grew more used to it and comfortable.  
There were more things to talk about, more direct things.  
  
Things like-  
  
 _“Take off your mask.”_   
“What, why?” Displeased Six looked over at the tall man. “I want to wear my mask.”  
“It’s RUDE. You’re my guest.”   
_“What!? Why?!_ You hid your face from me ninety percent of our time we shared together before!”   
“THE ONE TIME I DIDN’T, YOU DROPPED ME.”   
“ _Do not change topic,_ I NEVER complained about you hiding your face.”  
“Back then we were BOTH hiding our faces! I couldn’t see ANYTHING under that raincoat.”   
“That sounds like a YOU problem, my face was free!”   
“Well, this is MY tower, and you are MY guest, so I get to decide that you will take off the mask!”   
“No, no, it is ME who is the guest, so it is YOUR responsibility to accommodate all my needs!”   
Raising his arms to the heavens, Mono was close to SCREAMING.  
 _“I swear to god, if you don’t take off that mask, I will come into you room while you sleep and do it MYSELF.”_  
Manically Six grinned at that.   
“ _JOKES ON YOU, I NEVER SLEEP!”_   
“THEN I WILL KNOCK YOU OUT!”   
“YOU LOOK LIKE YOU ARE MADE OUT OF BREADSTICKS, I AM DYING TO SEE YOU TRY-“  
She broke off when she saw there were tears dwelling up in Mono’s eyes.  
“SIX! I DON’T _WANT_ TO KNOCK YOU OUT! BUT TAKE OFF THE MASK, IT DRIVES ME NUTS!”   
A bit quieter the Geisha stepped back, hesitating- however not willing to give up so easily.  
“… fine. _But you will have to take off your hat too.”_   
“Fine.” Without wasting another second, Mono took it off, looking down at her with his gentle, tired eyes. “… good enough?”  
“And take off the jacket of your suit. You look so weird in it.”  
“Will that be enough!?”   
He was already pulling it off.   
_“Here you go. Can you now PLEASE”_  
When it was off, without a warning Six stepped near and pulled Mono’s shirt up, curiously looking at his bare stomach for the split second that it was revealed.  
ThinMono was RED in the face, a red that shined out from all that grey.  
“WH-WHAT THE HELL, SIX?!”   
“Oh, I just wanted to know if you were naturally this thin or if you were malnourished. Glad to know it is the former.”   
Before the tall man could start complaining or lamenting, the Geisha had reached up to her face, pulling off the mask.  
Her teeth were visible, as she was smiling, it looked-  
 _Happy._  
Immediately Mono forgot his anger.   
_Her face.  
Her smiling, happy face.  
_“Satisfied now, oh my gracious host?” Sarcastically Six asked, her expression perfectly matching.  
Grumbling he put his jacket and hat back on.  
“I will be wearing these. You were messing with me, I didn’t agree to that.”  
A small chuckle caused him to grow fuzzy inside, in the- _angry-happy way._  
 _“Fair enough!”_   
  
Or things like  
  
“Get off my chair.”   
Towering in front of her, Mono leaned over, staring the sitting brat down.  
Six scoffed.  
 _“Make me.”_   
_“I don’t want to have to do this to you, but you are REALLY testing me here, Six…”_ Low Mono threatened, his voice turning more static-y.  
 _“I told you, do it you coward.”_  
“This is your LAST chance to give the chair up peacefully.”   
“God who has forsaken us- GO for it, Mono! _What are you? Scared? Are you scared of me?_ Why is the chair even THAT important to you?!”   
“It is my FAVORITE chair! My first chair! And sometimes my ONLY chair!” Mono whined- then he groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. “ _You know what? Fine. Keep the stupid chair. I don’t want to sit anymore anyways._ ”  
He turned to leave, walking through a doorway-   
And turning very, very quiet as he sneaked back into the room from the other side.  
It took roughly ten seconds, then Six stood up from the chair, walking after where Mono had gone, peeking around the corner to see if he was still there, only to twirl back on the spot as she heard the running footsteps, Mono triumphantly rushing over to the unguarded chair, sitting down here he should have, laughing.  
 _“Tricked you!”_   
Smugly he got comfortable, leaning back as he stared at the infuriated Geisha.   
Closing his eyes, REALLY enjoying his chair, he decided to bathe in his victory.  
“See, I knew you would fall for it. You really haven’t changed at all, Six! You may pretend to be all high and mighty now, but you’re still naïve. However, I- _I have evolved_.”  
Scoffing, the girl approached, staring him down.  
“ _No you did not.”_  
“Huh?”   
“You have not changed at all. All you did was getting a new hat! That is it. You are still a one-track-minded idiot. You never see the possibilities… _and how it all could go wrong_.”  
“… what do you mean could go wr-“  
And before Mono could say anything further, he was completely cut off from his own brain, as Six sank own on top of him, now it being HER turn to be smug, as their bodies were pressed against each other by gravity, the rough beating of a heart inside the chest under her gave her conformation that this had been a wise play.  
“… _this could happen, for example.”_  
“ _W-w-what are you doing-“_ Mono’s voice was at LEAST five octaves higher than it usually as, he sounded almost like he used to back then.   
“What am I doing? _Sitting down, obviously_.” She began wriggling around on the lap to get more comfortable, drawing a panicked gasp from Mono, who promptly wrapped his arms around her.  
“STOP THAT.”  
“Why?”   
“Because it’s WEIRD!”   
“ _Why_?”   
“You KNOW it’s weird! Stop playing stupid! What if some gnomes are around to see you?!”   
Instantly the Geisha stopped looking around, trying to check any, giving the poor man a break.  
He sighed in an attempt to wrestle back control.  
“See, Six? You still care so much about what you look like and how you appear. _You’re predictable and it would do you good to finally admit it.”  
_ Turning back, a slight pout was on her face now.  
“… I do not care what the gnomes think. The true issue is that the gnomes, well- they like to draw things they see onto the walls. And what do you think this would look like?”   
Something in Six’s expression changed from disgruntled to mischievous, she slowly leaned in.  
 _“… you know, Mono, there is a common misconception that Geishas are prostitutes.”_  
It worked, the red color instantly flushed this guy’s entire face.  
Six wasn’t done yet though, joyfully she doubled down.  
 _“… of course, that is nonsense. Back in the day though, there were Geishas who offered… different things. Some solely sexual. Some solely cultural. And some… some could do both. I like to think that I went through extensive research and have learned all there is to being a Geisha…”_  
“You- _you DIDN’T_!” In a mixture of shock and flustered panic, Mono stared down at her, into her eyes-  
Just for Six to promptly grow embarrassed with her brazen lie that had been called out so easily and turning away.   
_“… yeah, I did not_.”   
Relieved the Thin Man sighed, raising his hands to massage his temples. “Lady, do you want to KILL me?”   
“No.” Almost innocently the Lady was tilting her head as she stared upwards at her old friend.   
_“Then never do ANYTHING like this ever again_. I thought I was getting a heart attack.”  
“Eh. I guess I will try.”  
 _“You could start trying by getting off me now.”_  
“But I like it here.”   
“… urgh.”  
“You won the chair! Your reward? _You ARE the chair now_.”  
“You are the devil incarnate. I am VERY sure of that.”  
Slowly Six rose a hand to her face and wiped a tear, much to Mono’s shock.  
“W-wait, why are you-“  
 _“This… is the first compliment you have given me… I am so happy!”  
“SIX FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT GOOD IN THIS WORLD. GET OFF ME RIGHT NOW, I AM DONE_.”  
  
And then there had been this VERY special event.  
  
“… Mono, can you wash my kimono?” Six stepped out of the room, now wearing a yellow and golden kimono, her usual one folded up neatly in her hands.  
The Thin Man was currently reading one of the books Six had brought, only shortly looking up.  
“Ah, don’t worry, the washing machine is left, left, right, then the third door.”   
Focusing back on the book, it took him a few minutes to realize that his friend(?) was still there.  
Confused he stared up at her from his chair.  
“… any problem?”   
“I want you to do it.” The voice of the Geisha sounded confident and commanding, but her face- there was a certain nervousness in her face. _This woman never learned to hide the emotion from her face… perhaps she shouldn’t have relied on her mask so much.  
_ Slightly the Thin Man frowned.  
“… Six… are you trying to tell me… _you don’t know how to use a washing machine_?”   
Instantly the high-status woman grew red in embarrassment.  
Bingo.  
Mono broke out laughing.  
“Wait- what?! Seriously?! This is not some sort of joke?!”   
_“I- I never had to take care of menial tasks like that_!” Upset Six forced out between clenched teeth.  
“Oh my god. Oh MY god.” Standing up, he walked closer to the Geisha, who pulled up the laundry as though to hide behind it. “No kidding. The _oh so educated and capable_ Lady of the Maw… _doesn’t know how to do LAUNDRY_.”  
“I- I WILL FIGURE IT OUT. “ Huffing she turned, rushing towards the door that would lead her to the washing room, closely followed by Mono, who somewhat felt bad about mocking someone who didn’t know any better.   
“Hey, _hey_ \- I can help you.” Soothing he said, catching up with her. “I was just surprised.”  
 _“I will manage.”_  
“Oh, come on. Let me do this, I would rather not have you be cranky all day. Plus-“ Now he sounded more discontent. “ _I’d hate to have to get myself a new washing machine because you broke this one_. It’s hard to find a working one of good quality around!”  
Displeased Six finally relented, handing Mono her kimono, before watching- a bit more engaged- how he was pulling back his sleeves, getting ready for some good old-fashioned housework.  
While explaining the steps he was taking, he loaded up the machine and somewhat gloated in the intense attention that was on him.  
At the end, he turned to Six, putting his hands on his hips as he stared her down.  
“… alright. Tell me. What else are you completely useless at?”   
“I am not useless at anything!” Upset the Lady responded, before adding, slightly quieter, _“… I just need a bit more time to figure certain things out._ ”  
Mono’s glare was drilling into her and she got a bit smaller.  
“So… Six… _can you cook_?”   
“Yes!” Stubbornly she crossed his arms. “I can prepare a wide array of Japanese treats and light snacks-“  
“Can you cook something as easy as a carrot soup?”   
“… th-that is not typically Japanese, so-“  
 _“You can’t cook, Six.”_  
“I-“  
Surprisingly gentle, Mono grabbed her arms and pulled her along while smiling softly. “ _Come_. Cooking is fun!”   
They stumbled from room to room, before they arrived at a meticulously clean kitchen.  
Impressed Six whistled, looking around.  
“… woah. This is really in top condition.”   
“Of course it is! It’s a TV set and it has anything you could need.” Shortly he paused. “… and when I don’t have a lot to do, _which is always,_ I go around trying to clean everything.”  
“Incredible work.” Opening the drawers, the Geisha was almost blinded by the shining things inside. “This makes me think, you would make a great-“  
“ _I would never become your **servant** , Six_.” Mono growled-  
But Six’s raised eyebrow cut him off.  
“… I meant to say you would make a great _househusband_.”  
“A h- _husband_ -“ Flustered once more, the Thin Man stumbled back and rubbed the back of his neck, looking anywhere else. “ _That’s- uh- anyways_ , we wanted to make a carrot soup, right? Here- chop these onions.”   
“Slices or into cubes?”  
“What kind of question is this.”   
Shrugging Six turned to start her work, while Mono joined in, chopping a few other ingredients next to his friend(?), preparing what they would need.  
Six was a fast chopper, but Mono was faster, habit on his side.  
 _Frowning Six looked over at him and then began to chop faster-  
Provoking Mono into doing so as well, which then lead to-  
_“OUCH!” Six dropped the knife, a few drops of blood falling to the ground along with it.  
“Oh no, Six-!”   
Within a second, the Thin Man was next to her, holding her hand gently inspecting the wound, holding the smaller one close.   
“ _Okay, it’s only a light cut, it’s okay, it’s okay, I’ll take care of it- wait here.”  
_ Rushing out, he left the confused Six behind, who began sucking on her cut, knowing it would disappear in a few minutes at most and enjoying the taste of her own blood-  
Then he already came back, carrying a first aid kit and grabbing Six’s hand once more from behind- halfway having her in a hug.   
Slowly the Lady felt her face warming up as her chest filled with an odd feeling.  
 _“No worries, no worries.”_ Softly Mono muttered. “ _It’s only a scratch, I’ll patch it up for you, it will stop hurting in a moment. I’m sorry, I should have warned you, I should have looked out for you more-“  
_ The heat had now fully overtaking Six’s head, to a point she couldn’t even think right anymore. When Mono’s touch loosened, she freed himself, staying with her back to him though.  
 _“I- I am fine. It barely even hurt_. Do we not have a soup to prepare?”   
“You sure you are fine?”   
_She could hear him step closer, which instantly caused all the hair on Six’s neck and arms to stand up in anticipation of a touch-  
But none came._  
“Yes. Let us- return to the work.”  
When she finally had the confidence to look up at Mono’s face, his expression was a loving one, filled with relief.   
And Six knew her own expression was not hiding anything- however, she couldn’t make herself turn again.  
Thankfully though, her gracious host said nothing and simply returned to the counter.   
“Alright. Now that everything is chopped, put the onions into the pot with olive oil, add on a good bit of salt and pepper and then we cook it like this for eight minutes.”  
“Eight minutes?” Six skeptically asked. “On medium heat?”   
“Yes.” Turning to the other things that needed tending to, Mono confirmed.  
A quiet sound was audible behind him, but he paid it no mind-  
At least not until he smelled some gas.   
_“… Six, what are you doing…?”_   
Filled with dread he turned around and he wasn’t disappointed-  
The Lady was playing around with the stove, opening everything she could.  
“I want to see how to put it on high, then we can have it done in four minutes!”   
“SIX! THAT IS NOT HOW COOKING WORKS! DON’T-“  
“Ah, you know what, this stupid stove does not work, I will make my own heat-“  
 _And with that EVERYTHING exploded._  
Thankfully, the Thin Man had managed to jump on top of the Geisha JUST in the nick of time, then he promptly dragged her out by the scruff, crawling away from under the wall of fire, until they reached the door which he promptly slammed SHUT.  
Out of breath and fully covered in soot, they both looked at each other.  
Mono voice was a sore croak and he coughed a few times before being able to string together a sentence.  
 _“Never- never try to cook- again. You’re- FORBIDDEN.”  
“Fair enough.”   
_  
  
  
Eventually though, all good things came to an end and the North Wind continued its travels, leaving the sun to return and warm up the waters.  
It seemed like Six grew quieter during this time and Mono felt the sadness in his heart too.  
 _He didn’t want her to go.  
He didn’t want her to leave ever again._  
Clutching his head, he tried to shove the thoughts back out of there.  
The eye, the mount of flesh and organs- sometimes it would try to make its way into his head, trying to make him do bad things.  
 _Keeping Six here would be a bad thing.  
He didn’t want it.   
Not any of it._  
But the thought of her leaving left him with incredible amounts of pain burning through his very soul.  
 _What if he gave in? Just this once? Just for her?_  
Eventually, finally, the time came.  
The Lady and her gnomes were all ready, the suitcases packed tightly and a little lighter, as Six had left behind a few books, recommending them to Mono whole-heartedly.  
They were back where they had first met, looking at each other, the Geisha fidgeting with the mask in her hands.  
Mono knew he had to SAY something to let her go, but his brain was only producing nonsense.  
‘ _You will not leave.’  
‘Stop.’  
‘I am not letting you go.’  
‘Did you think you could just walk in here and reawaken this within him without CONSEQUENCES?’  
‘If you don’t stay willing, I’ll lock the doors and destroy the key.’  
‘There is still a pit with a vacancy space. But don’t worry, at least you will have me to visit you, unlike I me, who was alone.’  
_Nothing, none of this was anything he WOULD be saying, not a chance.  
Yet they fought against his lips, hundreds of words like staring eyes, words of denial and possession, of desperation and anger, it came all back to him-  
He opened his mouth and-  
 _“Mono… I was thinking.”_  
Six interrupted him before he could say a single world.   
“I would like to invite you to stay on the Maw with me, at least for a while. You have shown yourself as a generous host and I would like to repay my debts as soon as I can.”   
Abruptly the Thin Man closed his mouth again, as this new possibility was presented to him, shining like a ray of the sun, freeing itself from the dark clouds.  
His throat felt sore.  
But he smiled.  
 _“… I’d- quite like that.”_   
“Good.” Clapping her hands Six looked at the gnomes. “Gather what you think he will need on the Maw to be comfortable.”   
They all rushed into different directions, while the Thin Man simply stood there, shaking under his own heartbeat.  
Six wandered over to him, smiling quite pleased.  
“I am happy you accepted so willingly. I thought I would have to pressure you and put on a show.”  
“Ah- the Signal Tower can get a bit… overbearing after a while. The entire city does.”  
For a moment they stood side by side, Six grinning to herself.  
Then Mono caved in and asked.  
 _“… why are you smiling…?”_  
“Oh, not because of much. _I am just thinking about what kimono I will make you wear._ ”  
“I- what?”   
“Why, you put me under your rules while staying here, on the Maw you will be under MY rules.” Playfully Six grinned. “It is only fair!”   
“ _But_ -“  
“Oh, hush. You will look great in one _, I am sure it will make you look very refined_.”   
Softly the poor man groaned.   
“… are you messing with me, Six?”   
A smaller, gentler hand was put into his and intertwined their fingers as the Lady kept looking forward, pleased as could be.  
  
“Not at all Mono. I am just… _happy_.”  
… and despite not wanting to say it- Mono was too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THAT'S IT!   
> HOPE YOU ENJOYED!   
> I have no more direct ideas for Lady/ThinMan, but I'm totally up for more, if anyone gives me an idea.
> 
> Though I feel like after this sweet fluff, I wanna write something... darker. Scarier. About obsession and possession in the name of protection. Maybe full-on yandere.  
> I'm still on the verge of that though, if you have any idea for who/what AU, PLEASE share, if not I'll see if it passes or write something random and short.


	11. Fragmented Static

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mono drops into the Signal Tower and he’s being corrupted, from the inside and outside.  
> After the process finally finished, he decides to go take what’s his and break the loop once and for all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ALRIGHT, THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO ENCOURAGED ME!  
> It’s a Yandere!ThinMono/Lady.
> 
> What warnings apply?  
> Major ones in my opinion:   
> Obsessive behavior, physical intimidation, extremely intense moodswings and a generally terrible relationship torn between intense love and intense hate.  
> So please turn away if that would upset you to read!
> 
> However, I’d also like to very much stress that Six (for this AU) is into it, even if she doesn’t realize it. It’s not like she’s kicking and screaming and in terror, I couldn’t write a character torment another like that because I’m a PUSSY, even if problematic.  
> Is it realistic?   
> No.  
> Will I write it anyways to make myself feel better?  
> Hell yeah.  
> ENJOY!

The Signal Tower was CONTRACTING.  
Mono could feel it in his soul.  
 _It was telling him things, disturbing things, things that he didn’t want to be true.  
About a looping reality.  
About mistakes he made over and over.  
It used his own voice, old and worn out, as though his own ghost was in the walls.  
He HATED listening to it.  
He HATED him.  
_It felt like the Tower had latched onto him, forcing its way in.  
It never stopped approaching, moving in, whispering in thousand voices and Mono wanted to puke, he wanted to cry and scream, anything to stop it-  
There was only ONE way to make it stop.  
Six.  
Thinking about her emptied his strained mind fully, giving him a moment or rest…  
… before abruptly replacing all of them with different thoughts.  
 _Six.  
Six was out there.  
Six was out there without him.  
Six was out there without him and left him here to die.  
_Sharply he took a breath, a rush of anger fired up his head, clutching his fist.  
He didn’t understand. He couldn’t understand.  
 _Why did his friend do this to him, why, why, after he came here to SAVE her, to HELP her, to HOLD HER TIGHT AND TELL HER THINGS WOULD BE OKAY-  
_ Something was wrong, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.   
Had it been like that or-?  
There was something in his head, rushing through his veins, making it way through brain and heart.  
You cannot feel radiation, yet somehow, SOMEHOW-  
 _He felt… contaminated._  
Maybe that was why Six didn’t love him anymore.  
Because he got contaminated.   
Contaminated by all the feelings in his chest.  
The heat and pain, his heart beating like-   
Like something BROKEN, under a lot of pressure, a kettle under steam, SCREECHING, SCREAMING-  
Tears we dripping down his face, the pain from his chest killing him.  
Would it be easier to just cut it out?!  
Should he risk it!?  
Could he even do it if he wanted to?!  
No.  
No, no, no he didn’t want to do it.  
He wanted-  
He wanted-  
 _He wanted to get OUT.  
He wanted to LIVE!  
He wanted to find Six and-_  
His brain was growing loud and full, like fuzzy static on a screen, white noise-  
 _Kill her, hold her, cry to her, kiss her, break her, protect her, capture her, make her pay, make her laugh, make her STAY-_  
Trying to hold on to the edges of his chair, his mind spinning and dizzy, the only thing inside of him was WANTING-  
She had been the beginning and end of the loop, she had been his highest joy and deepest low, Six was holding his very soul in her hand and maybe even his entire reality-  
 _And he NEEDED her to be his-  
Wanting, wanting, wanting Six-_  
Yearning so deep it felt like it was the blood flowing through every inch of him.   
And yet with it came the pain or maybe the yearning was MADE out of pain. There was something living inside of him, a parasite and _her name was Six_.   
It was eating him alive, consuming him bite by bite.  
 _Did he want to be consumed like this?  
Or was he being tricked, fooled, used?_  
Six.  
He covered his face.  
 _Where are you.  
Come back.  
Come back.  
Come back._  
Just the thought alone was filling his head with a sense of mania- a high, bright feeling, glowing through every bit of him.  
 _Coming back, Six coming back, apologizing-  
He would rip her down here, he would RIP her into this PIT if she ever reached out to him again, he would make her TASTE HIS HELL, this agony between his ears, in his bowels, ripping out from his fingers-_  
Tears dwelling up in his eyes, he bit into his own hand, a gesture he had seen Six do before.  
It helped a little, the real physical pain brought him back to the here and now, where he wasn’t towering over Six, but instead sitting in this magenta room.  
A room he did want to leave, no matter what.  
 _There was a door.  
Perhaps if he-_  
The Tower contracted once more, the walls changing around him, flickering between organic mass and concrete back and forth, before a big TV shoved itself outwards, appearing in a comfortable spot, easy to look at from where Mono sat.  
The Thin Man frowned, slightly confused.  
 _Why would the Tower-_  
A thought, searing hot, pushed itself through his mind like a melting metal rod.  
 _You could watch her if you tune the transmission right._  
Instantly he stumbled forwards, pushing his hands against the screen, it abruptly flaring to life, twisting under his influence, opening up channels through screens, even screens that weren’t any, until finally-  
Six was sitting there, brushing her hair that had grown significantly longer since Mono last had seen her.  
The place she was in didn’t seem to quite fit her.  
 _Yet_.  
 _Just like him.  
Mono’s heart beat so badly.  
They were just like each other, staring into one another’s eyes.  
_A more rational part- maybe the last rational part of him- pointed out that she must be sitting in front of a mirror in her room.   
_She wasn’t seeing him at all._  
Slowly the boy reached out towards the glass-  
A quiet voice mumbling in the back of his head.  
 _‘You will have to decide.  
Do you want to protect her?  
Or do you want to pain her?’_  
His eyes wandered over the face in the mirror.  
  
 _Everything.  
He wanted… everything._  
  
-  
  
The years had passed and Six had become the Mistress of the Maw, the head, the very soul of the place.  
Nothing happened outside of her awareness.  
 _Or at least, so she thought._  
When you used dark magic, you accepted that there would be a price to be paid, that some forces would feed off you in turn for working for you.  
However, the whispering she had begun to hear didn’t feel normal at all.  
It never had happened before.   
Not that she could remember.  
There was something in the air and it was…  
 _… calling for her._  
An emotion transmitted by seemingly the air itself, an emotion that tasted like craving, intoxication- however, it was in no way similar to what the guests were experiencing.  
This was far, far more raw and intense, an emotion that could not be caused by food.  
It was somewhere deep in the soul, radiating outwards from-  
 _Somewhere_.  
On one hand she wanted to know what it was, on the other it made her feel tense and uneasy.  
As sweetly as it called towards her, it also felt-   
_It felt like there was an edge to it, a knife below satin, at any point in time ready to reveal itself, cutting through her if she dared touching the smooth, inviting surface._  
However, ignoring it was dangerous.  
She tried to tell her servants to look out, but they didn’t even know what she was talking about.  
Neither did the Nomes and THAT was peculiar, because these creatures were usually one of the most perceptive beings, aside from herself- those that survived for a while, that was. Still, if even they didn’t seem to feel something going on, there was a chance she was just imagining it.  
 _… she was imagining a lot recently._  
 _Mono._  
She had tried to avoid thinking about him, but the thought of him crept back into her mind over and over again.   
_… how was he doing?  
… was he still around?_  
He had to be- the Pale City still seemed as it always did. The Signal Tower was standing. Someone had to be there, in charge, taking care of the broadcast.  
The thought hurt a little-  
But it was at this point the Geisha always pushed her thoughts back down.   
She was too busy to waste her time with silly childhood memories and pointless “what ifs”.  
Uneasy she wandered up and down, the air still singing in her ears.  
 _Come home.  
Come home to me._  
Her heartbeat picked up and she grew tense and sat up, looking around.  
That almost sounded like words.  
What was that?  
Was someone here!?  
 _You’re tired.  
Exhausted.  
Why stay here?_  
The hair on the Geisha’s neck stood up.  
 _I have such a nice place for you.  
Come home again.  
We will be so happy.  
_These emotions inside of her, they couldn’t be hers. This odd pit in her stomach, fuzzy and wriggly, as though something was moving in there, her heated face and ears, her beating heart-  
 _Someone else had to be messing with her._  
But- but who could dare do such a thing!?  
Abruptly she rushed towards the security room, the place that could oversee the majority of places of the Maw. A giant eye was the screen, transferring images, but no noise.  
SOMEONE was here and that was nothing that the Lady would accept.   
A blind passenger would be shown no mercy.  
As she opened the door to the room and stepped in, her instinct screamed that something was wrong.  
ANCIENT instinct that she hadn’t been using ever since she was small-  
 ** _Run_**.  
She rushed towards the screen, letting the door fall shut behind her, fumbling to activate the security eye, hoping to find some sort of answer, a foe to account for, to try and beat, or the distressing artifact that has been brought here causing all of this-  
 _Static.  
The screen was filled with static._  
Grey, black and white.  
It felt like a hand clutched itself around her heart, even before she felt IT.  
 _Behind her.  
It was Mono._  
The static that pulled on her hair and skin gave her a good idea how tall he must be compared to her.  
Tall and lanky.  
 _She remembered him well.  
The Thin Man._  
The pressure of electricity that was pushing against her gave him a good idea what he was doing…   
_… reaching out for her neck._  
However, he stopped, maybe inches away from it.  
 _“… there you are, Six. I was looking for you, you know. I was trying to find you. For a long, long time.”_   
He didn’t grab her neck, instead he put a heavy hand on her shoulder, his fingers digging into them.   
_“You seem to have been doing well for yourself. What a nice place. So filled with life and people to be at your every beck and call. You like that, don’t you? You like having the attention on you_.”  
A raspy laugh sounded.  
 _“… well, perhaps then it makes you happy to know that I have been paying VERY close attention to you over the years.”_  
Finally Six couldn’t bear it anymore, turning around on the spot, staring up at him, trying to make herself as tall as possible, which didn’t do much except helping her feel better.  
The Thin Man’s eyes were alit, a purple glow inside, shining brightly and downright demonic from under the shade of the hat.   
“Who do you think you are, entering MY home like this and disrespecting ME!?”   
Slowly, deliberately the man leaned down, until their faces were inches away from each other.  
 _“… you tell me, Milady **. What did you turn me into?** ” _  
It was a punch into her gut as Six stared up at him aghast.   
_The face, the face she had seen before, the face that had burned into her memories- it was the exact same face.  
A grimace of pain and fear and confused anger._  
Mono was EATING her with his eyes however, that was not something he did before and it was something that make the Lady shudder with an odd sensation.  
As she didn’t respond a smile crossed the grey man’s face.  
 _“I want to kiss you, Six. I want to kiss you so desperately. **What did you turn me into?!”**_   
Six still couldn’t step back, her mind shut down, feeling the breath of her former friend almost against her own lips.  
… she wasn’t as scared as she knew she should be, but perhaps it was just her disassociating from the situation to not be caught in a panic…  
“ _You_ …” Six finally spoke, her voice hoarse. “… what happened to you…?”   
Abruptly standing up, Mono began moving closer, the smile still on his face, but his eyes wide and pained.   
“… I don’t know! How would I? I was thrown down into the pits of hell and this creature was down there with me, up above, down below, surrounding me _. It was creeping into my head, Six. I think it made a home there.”  
A whisper.  
A cry for help.  
_“Mono, you- you need to snap out of it. This is not you.”   
“Oh? _How would you know_?” Suddenly all confident and mocking, he stepped closer, forcing the Lady to back away, trying to avoid being graced by him, something that seemed to amuse the man as he stepped around her, making them not walk, but dance without a single touch. “This is the closest we have been- perhaps ever. Look at you. _Stepping back when I step forward, tilting and turning with me… we are finally in synch, Six.”  
_ Freeing herself from her trance, the smaller one stepped a few abrupt steps back, almost wincing under the intense disappointment in the Thin Man’s eyes.  
 _Something was drawing her close like a magnet, making her crave to close the gap, what-_  
“What are you doing to me!?”   
Raising an eyebrow, Mono had cooled down, stopping his movement. “Me? I’m not doing anything. How could I do anything to you, someone so high and mighty?”   
For moment both were transfixed on each other, until suddenly Mono was back to smiling, reaching his hand out.  
“You seem so upset and distraught… care for dance with me? Perhaps that is what we need after these… upsetting moments.”  
Six’s head was fuzzy, so fuzzy.  
Her hand twitched as for a second she thought about taking his-  
And instantly she knew that Mono had seen, his face twisting into an even bigger smile.  
 _“… it seems you made a choice.”  
“I did not.”_  
“Oh, yes you did. Or at least, you admitted to wanting it. Tell me, why do we always deprive ourselves of the things we desperately want? What is scaring us? Growing addicted to the joy?”   
Abruptly a smaller hand was placed in his, which he promptly closed his fingers around tightly.  
Six had stepped closer, staring him down.  
 _“I am not scared of anything.”  
“Perfect.”_   
And at that he pulled her even closer, beginning to twirl her around, their steps easily matching up as Mono took over the lead, having learned how to dance from the shows he had been watching occasionally to fuel his imaginations about Six.  
There were hours spend in his room, putting his arms into the air, imagining what it would be like, carefully placing his steps into the right pattern-   
_Now he was actually holding her, they were so close that the Lady could place her head on his chest, listening to the strong heartbeat underneath and Mono could smell the faint smell of paper and incense from his partner’s hair.  
Both of them knew the melody they were dancing to, even if it was fully quiet._  
“… you learned to dance for me.” Quietly the woman with the mask pointed out.  
It stayed silent for a moment, then, for a second, Mono sounded almost like normal. _“… I wanted to impress you.”  
_ Their dance continued for minutes or maybe hours, before finally both of them slowed down, coming to a halt eventually, the Thin Man’s hands still connected with the Geisha’s.  
They stood like this, close together for another moment, then Six tried to move back-  
 _To no avail._  
Instantly glaring up, she pulled on the other one’s hands that had locked around her wrists tightly, unyielding.  
“Let- let me go.”  
The Thin Man stared down at her, his eyes and pupils wide and hungry, it looked like he was somehow somewhere far away.  
 _“… you know, Six… your mask is hiding nothing from me anymore. I can see right through it._ Your face doesn’t hide anything either, not surprising, but it wouldn’t have even if you knew how to differentiate your expressions and thoughts… _I can look right into you_.”  
Once more the Geisha pulled, more forceful she pulled back, trying desperately to break free. Of course, she could use her powers, but then- the loop-  
Causally Mono continued talking as though his partner hadn’t made the transition to his prisoner.  
 _“… what I see disgusts me. It is exactly what I expected. You fed children to adults and then ate the adults. Do you have no shame? You could feed them anything- you could stick to fish and poultry, but here you are, feeding them human meat, children’s meat. Does it make them taste better? You are a fucking abomination, a disgusting cancer cell that keeps absorbing the healthy, pure kids into himself to grow its shell.”_  
 _“Nobody in this world is pure_.” She spat out at him. “You were not either. _You were a violent monster who thought himself higher than the ones you punished.”  
_ Those words seemed to pull Mono back into reality, bring momentary relief to Six.  
 _Very momentary._  
“Punishment, right! _We have to decide how you will pay for what you have done to me_.” At this point the Thin Man’s grip tightened around Six’s wrist, who was fully unprepared, letting out a pained noise-  
Which caused Mono to stop and stare at her for a moment, his eyes big with greed and fascination.  
“ _Make that noise again.”_   
“N-no!”   
Roughly he pinned her against the cold screen behind her, his tall frame almost swallowing the smaller one.  
 _“I want to hear it so bad. I didn’t even know you could make a noise like that._ ” His breath was erratic, his expression manic. “ _Oh god, Six, I was watching you for so long through your mirrors and I didn’t KNOW that. What else are you hiding from me?! What else didn’t I see?! I need to see it!”_   
“MONO! THIS ISN’T LIKE YOU, NOT AT ALL! STEP BACK-“   
“You do not want me to step back.”   
All of a sudden he was cool and calculated again, his mood shifting so fast that the Geisha got all kinds of dizzy.   
His words were so utterly certain, as though there was no possible world in which it could be wrong.  
 _“You took my hand. You agreed. You missed me. You took my hand, you allowed me to take you. The moment our hands touched, you were mine and you knew you were mine.”_   
“That is ludicrous.”  
“Go on then. Tell me I am WRONG.” He leaned over her, keeping her caged, his words and expression ecstatic, knowing the answer.  
The Lady showed her sharp teeth. “ _You are INSANE.”_  
“That was never up for debate. But I am asking if I am WRONG.”   
Once more his grasp on his former friend tightened, his words a whisper.  
 _“Go on, Six. Kill me. I will enjoy it. Finish your work proper.”_  
It was silent.  
For a moment the Geisha tensed up, considering sucking out his soul, but-   
_“You can’t do it, can you?_ _You can’t hurt me_.” The words were quiet and soft, almost melancholic in a loving manner. _“… you and me, we are the same. I know what you are feeling.”  
_ Flustered and upset, the Lady shook her head.  
“No, no- you are misrepresenting it, if I attack you, the loop-“  
 ** _“I don’t care about the fucking loop.”_** It was almost a snarl. _“I will take you home with me into the tower and if the world crumbles and ends, so be it. I don’t care about the rest of this forsaken universe- once I removed you from it, it can burn for all I care_. So there’s only one choice you can make- kill me and break the loop or join me and break the loop. I am done playing your games.”  
Another few moments passed, moments of Six staying unmoving, before Mono was satisfied, his body relaxing.  
 _“You keep answering me without saying a single word_. Are you even aware of what you are saying?” Softly he smiled, an expression that finally wasn’t grotesque or abnormal to see. Reaching down, he took off the Geisha’s mask, throwing it to the side. _“… I want to hear you say it, but I suppose you are not ready. Sadly, I am all out of patience.”  
_ Leaning in, their lips almost touched as they pressed against the glass that slowly flickered to light, revealing static, tainting both with cold, abnormally white light.  
“You will never have to hide your face again, you will never be seen by anyone but me again. The time for hiding is over for good, Six.  
 _Welcome home.”_  
  
As Six closed her eyes, their lips met and then the glass behind them opened up, swallowing both of them whole.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feed of my wretched imagination.
> 
> I want to write a more generally aggressive and controlling, but this time well put-together ThinMono sometimes again, but I feel like I need a good scenario set up.  
> I have a few good AUs that I’m thinking about, like a demon AU with everyone being a specific kind of otherworldly deity, that would also allow me to write some Runaway Kid… and an AU where Six got snatched up by the broadcast, being put into a ~perfect~ world by Mono, but she slowly starts realizing that something about the place doesn’t add up and attempts to escape the dream reality.
> 
> I'M THINKING AND YOU’RE ALL WELCOME TO HELP.  
> Next chapter though will be also yandere and one of the GENUINELY disturbing ones if you ask me personally, so all to its time, I really need to stop spending all day writing-   
> *But I would feel bad to leave off at a chapter that a fair few might be uncomfortable reading, so if you have anything in mind for a very short, soft drabble, do share that too.*


	12. We’re like siblings, only closer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mono finds a little girl out in a hunter's hut and declares her his new sister.
> 
> Too bad the Signal Tower spared no thought or act from its twisting influence... and the girl happens to be rather uncooperative.  
> Drastic measures are in order.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I shouldn't be writing this late, but I really wanted to get this out, because it was the first fic where I tried out to stretch my comfort zone a little! Thank you Dannybakugo for the request!  
> It didn't end up QUITE as disturbing as my first draft, but it's still could be pretty harsh, so read the rest of the author note carefully. 
> 
> I'm not sure if I should say this is Mono&Six or Mono/Six, because while Mono appoints himself the role of the big brother, they're not related and they way he acts to her is not really sibling-esque. More like someone who has never seen two siblings and just has gotten his first deep bond to someone would THINK siblings would be.   
> Either way though-  
> WARNINGS:
> 
> Yandere (Possessive&Obsessive) Mono forcing the "sister" lable onto Six in a very concerning manner (faux-incest? I'm not really sure and I rather warn when it's not needed than trigger someone), implication of suicidal thoughts (only one sentence), drugging (at the very end). I think that covers it all, but if anything else needs to be tagged that I haven't, please point it out.
> 
> And enjoy this trainwreck, my stupid ass spend the entire day writing and now is DRAINED.

They say the moon does strange things to people.  
Well, the boy bathing in the light of the moon didn’t need anything to be made weirder.  
There was something inherently wrong with him- and most people could see it in his face, in his eyes.   
That’s was why he wore his paperbag.  
It made things… easier.  
Many things.  
Quietly he sighed, enjoying the night, listening to the hunter roaming.   
_Hah, the hunter never thought about looking up. Or maybe he couldn’t._  
This was just another night-   
At least until something caught his eyes.  
  
A girl was running along the grass, out of breath, wearing tattered clothes.   
_… so the hunter had found actual prey this time around…_  
Trying to come up with a plan, Mono stared down at her as the young girl stared up, their eyes meeting.  
There was- something to it.  
 _Something wild.  
Something intense.  
Something he had never seen before.   
_It didn’t disappear, even when she jumped at the cone of light abruptly hitting her.  
For a second it almost looked like she was ready to FIGHT the hunter and Mono whistled impressed-  
Promptly causing the hunter to turn around.  
The girl tried to make a mad dash past him-   
… and was caught abruptly.  
 _Concerned Mono stood in the tree, trying to find a solution, a way to help her-_  
The Hunter turned and walked off, the struggling child still in his grasp.  
Relieved the boy in the tree sat back down. This was good, if the Hunter could get his victim in a good condition, he usually preferred to perform taxidermy on their bodies. And while it would of course still kill her, at least he had time to DO something.  
  
\- - -   
  
They were hiding.  
Together.  
His friend was hesitating as Mono wanted to move forward- they were safe here, but for how long?   
Looking back at her, he smiled.  
“Hey.” He offered his hand.  
Just to be met with an abrupt shake of the head.  
Confused he tilted his own head, which was met with the quietest whisper.  
 _“I do not hold stranger’s hands.”_  
For a moment Mono was stumped, then he smiled again.   
_“Okay, I get that- my name is Mono! It is nice to meet you, let’s be friends!”_   
_“No, no-“_ Again the girl shook her head. _“I meant- nobody who is not my family.”_   
This was bad.  
Peeking back out he looked at the Hunter who seemed to be coming closer-  
 _“You know, I had a little sibling when- before this. They were a lot like you. How about I’ll be your big brother, just for a little while?”_   
This time the small girl hesitated, but reached upwards, putting her slim hand into Mono’s.  
 _“… what happened to your sibling…?”  
“… that is what I am trying to find out.”_  
It was a lie.   
A simple lie.  
 _An innocent lie._  
After all, some lies didn’t fester.  
… right?  
  
\- - -   
  
Their journey continued and the girl, who’s name ended up being apparently Six, became a little bit more comfortable around him.  
The hand-holding was really nice and if Mono was honest with himself, it hadn’t taken him long to care a whole lot for his newfound friend.  
 _His newfound sister._  
He REALLY liked this concept. The concept of having his own sister.  
Someone to take care of, to protect, to look after.  
Someone who would give him the motivation to continue moving, something good in this little world.  
“Hey!” Six called him over, ripping him out of his thoughts. She was standing in front of a ball. “Get in front of the goal. I bet I can get it past you.”  
Mono grinned below the mask.  
“Sure… try it! I am sure you’ll impress me.”   
Getting down in front of the goal, Mono and Six’s wild eyes met once more, both of them staring at each other, neither willing to lose this little competition.  
After kicking the ball a little bit back and forth, Six finally stepped back, got a running start and-  
 ** _CRASH._**  
A loud, high shattering sounded as the window far above was broken into PIECES.   
Both of the kids looked at each other, then promptly rushed to hide, before finally feeling brave enough to stop hugging each other and sneak outwards, nobody seeming to mind THAT much.  
Slightly the older boy sighed.  
“… I’m glad you didn’t hit me with that ball, you would have killed me.”  
 _“Yeah… I am glad too.”_   
Softly Mono grinned. “Ah- so you DO care if I live or die, huh?”   
Quietly Six huffed. “… maybe. A little.”  
  
Happily Mono grabbed her hand and dragged her along, his heart full of optimism.  
  
The school was rather big and filled with traps, so Mono always encouraged Six to go to the side, to avoid anything as slowly Mono crept forward, disarming the traps and only ever telling his friend- _his sister_ \- to come along when he was fully confident it was safe.  
 _It felt good! He felt good!_  
Six was pulling out some toys from some sleeping quarters, inspecting them.  
“Let’s steal them.”  
“No, Six, stealing is bad.”  
“Alright, I will steal it for myself then, you can go toyless and uncool.”  
“Hey! Don’t call me uncool!”   
Playfully Six showed stuck out her tongue, happy as she could be in this place.  
They were _both_ happy.   
That was being siblings was all about, right? This was what it was like?  
Both made each other happy?  
Sure, friends did so too, but friends were ONLY spending time to be happy.  
… siblings were also sad together…  
  
When Six had been taken, something within Mono had snapped.  
  
 _These little shits, these monsters, these NIGHTMARES-  
They had taken Six.  
Taken her.  
Away.  
Away from him.   
Static and noise, he moved through the school cold and calculated.  
It was all static and noise…  
The clunk of the hammer hitting the head was just a noise.  
The disgusting mockery of children that were rushing towards him were just static.   
He crushed heads, he crushed heads where he could.  
All of them, all of them deserved to be crumbled. He hit three of them with a bookshelf and he would love to drop a bookshelf onto the entire cursed dining hall, he wanted to drop a row of bookshelves in the hall, he wanted to hear the little crushing nose of porcelain bones._  
He had disappointed Six… he couldn’t forgive himself.  
He needed to make up for it.  
He had strayed too far away from the one being he was supposed to PROTECT!  
Betrayal.  
It was betrayal.  
 _When they were finally reunited, had Mono smashed everything in sight, his breath heavy and torn. As Six got dropped, he rushed over to catch her, throwing himself under her-  
With success.  
_As his back was scrapped open, Six laid on top of him, cursing.  
Sitting up, Mono began inspecting her.  
“Is everything, are you okay? How bad did it hurt? What did they do to you?”   
To his surprise, Six hugged him, no, SQUEEZED him.  
 _And Mono’s already cracked psyche opened the smallest bit further, opening to a deep, dark black abyss he didn’t knew he had inside.  
Oil spill in the depths of the ocean.  
Slowly killing everything that came near.   
The surface however now glimmering in rainbow colors.  
_Just as tight Mono hugged her back, feeling good, VERY good about the situation all of a sudden.  
 _“It’s okay. It’s okay. Your big brother is back. I’m not going to fix this, this will never happen again_.” Bit by bit his hug got tighter; he didn’t even realize what he was doing. _“… just don’t let go of my hand again. Okay? Then things will be okay.”  
Why…  
Why was he smiling…?  
What was this utter sense of ecstasy inside of him…?  
_It took a while-  
 _notlongenough_  
\- then Six’s breath was finally slow and steady again and she was squirming to get out of his grasp and continue with their journey, Mono reluctantly joining her, offering her his hand and smiling a little.  
“Let’s go slow.”   
  
When they saw a distracted bully in the next room, Six moved towards it-  
Before abruptly stopping as the bully was reduced to dust in front of her.  
Next to her stood Mono, holding the big hammer, smiling widely.  
 _“No need to dirty your hands, Six. That’s what your big brother is for_.”   
  
\- - -   
  
After that, SOMETHING became easier.  
He wasn’t quite sure what.  
Crushing fingers?  
 _The mania inside of him as he could HEAR Six behind him DESPERATELY trying to pull of the floorboards as he was fending off everything that could try to hurt her.  
He wanted to call out to her!  
Don’t be afraid dear sister… you are safe as can be!  
But he stayed silent, focusing on breaking and shattering anything coming for them, coming for SIX-  
Anything that wanted to attack her would have to through Mono first.  
Anything that wanted to TOUCH her would have to through Mono first.  
He was keeping the world out- there was only this little bubble around him and Six, where they were holding hands and standing close._  
Or was it electrocuting viewers?  
 _People died.  
He didn’t care.   
Anything that could be removed from Six’s surroundings WOULD be removed from Six’s surroundings.  
It didn’t matter if harmless or not, if distracted or not, Mono KILLED because he didn’t even want to see the question coming up.  
Every time he saw a creature writhing in agony, it made him smile and think about how protected Six must feel.  
  
_

… but-   
  


Eventually, all things had to come to an end.  
Something had gone wrong.   
Maybe their fight had come because Six had realized something was up.  
“Down this path!” Mono smiled as he dragged Six along, who seemed- weary.   
_“… are you sure?”_   
“Of course I am! You know you need to trust your big bro, right?”   
For a moment Mono was happy, but it quickly crumbled as out of nowhere his “sister” pulled her hand away.   
“… we are going directly to the Signal Tower.” Six words were harsh. “And- the sibling thing is getting weird. What would yours think about it?!”   
“ _My what?”_   
_Lies were always innocent.  
Just a way to clog up the bile._   
Slowly Six stumbled backwards, her distrust turning into outright anger and disgust.  
 _“You… what the hell is wrong with you.”_   
Her words were cold and damning.  
 _“You lied to me_ -“  
“ _No- no, no, no, Six it is not like tha_ t- I was just trying to make you trust me back then- a-and then, it felt so NICE to call you that!” Hysterical Mono cried out, moving forward. “ _I- I always WANTED a sibling! It was perfect! YOU are perfect! D-don’t you see, this was meant to be this way! And once we reach the Signal Tower, I can-“  
_ “SO YOU ARE TRYING TO BRINGING ME TO THAT HELL-PLACE!”   
“IT’S FINE IN THERE, I’M SURE I CAN- MAKE IT BE OKAY! THE SIGNAL TOWER, IT’S _\- IT’S MADE FOR ME AND I CAN SHARE IT WITH YOU, LIKE A REAL FAMILY!”  
_ For a few seconds they stared at each other.  
Wild eyes into twisted one.  
Twisted.  
He was sure that she could see it now, see what the other kids had seen when staring into his eyes.  
He was a twisted, messed up kid.  
  
 _Then Six was gone.  
Escaped.  
He ran and ran, but he couldn’t keep up-  
Maybe she had hidden somewhere, maybe she had kept running, he didn’t know how to check.  
The dark rift in the ocean of his mind opened up wildly, thoughts spurting up.  
Useful thoughts.  
He turned to the Signal Tower._  
  
The fight against his older self was simple.   
Easy really.  
He barely was thinking.  
But he didn’t want to make him disappear-  
He wanted him to make himself useful.  
 _… an antenna, if capable of sending out transmission can be corrupted, changed, made to send out a NEW signal from the outside.  
_ He took the new body over with ease, switching between his small and tall body back and forth to test, before impending the signal.   
And the signal?  
  
“Find her.”  
 _Make her reconsider her choice._   
  
\- - -   
  
Six was running, running for dear life.  
The TVs had all switched off- and now the Viewers were all pinning the blame on HER.   
And if the groups of screaming, screeching people with twisted faces wasn’t enough, something ELSE had joined the chase-  
 _Something that was so calm and patient that it filled the girl in the yellow raincoat with an ENTIRELY new sense of dread, one she hadn’t experienced like this before.  
Everything else, it hunted like an animal, it perceived and it RUSHED-  
But this- being-   
It walked.  
So slowly.  
Quietly humming… or was it buzzing?_  
She didn’t want to meet it, she didn’t want to get anywhere NEAR it-  
It seemed like the entire city hated her.  
For seconds it felt like eyes were staring at her out of every window, as though the whole place was made out of eyes.  
 _Something had gone terribly, terribly wrong-_  
She was trapped in a corner, ducking between old boxes.   
Shaking in cold fear, part of her wished to be back with Mono, but that wish was seemingly directed at a monkey’s paw, as out of nowhere a bright voice echoed through the street, sweet and playful.  
Not- not THIS Mono…   
“ _Sixyyyyyyy! Siiiiiiiisteeeeeeeer! Come out! Come out already! **You know I will win this game, I will find you**!”_   
Pulling back further into the hiding space, Six pulled down the hood of her raincoat, wishing to just be able to disappear.  
How could everything gone so wrong?! Why hadn’t she noticed sooner what a psychopath Mono was!?  
Was he even one?! Or was he just being twisted by the Signal Tower, like everything else?  
 _All he wanted to do was to be a good brother to Six and the Tower has eaten it.  
It had eaten Mono._  
With shaking hands the girl pulled out a glass shard. _  
Sometimes you wanted to know that you could choose your own death._  
But today?  
Today she would choose someone else’s death.  
Not out of disgust or hunger or dislike-   
_But out of love for the boy that broke down her door, utterly clumsy and stupid, yet well meaning.  
_ There had been some sort of friendship there, even when all the lies had been piled on top of it and Mono had tormented her by going off alone, leaving her to hope and pray that everything would be okay-  
 _Had he been manipulating her from the start?  
_ … Six didn’t want to believe it.  
So she clutched her shard and hid it by crossing her arms, stumbling out.  
“… Mono…!” She called out as weakly as she could ans the Paperbag boy saw her come out, his face delighted.  
“That’s not the right thing to call me~” He chirped, causing Six to grimace.  
“ _Big… bro_ … I got- hurt…”   
“Oh no, did you? Come let me-“ He had approached, but suddenly stood very still, staring at Six. “… I will take care of you… just show me what’s in your hand first.”  
“N-nothing!”   
“I love you a whole lot as my sibling, so I will give you another chance. Family gives each other chances and loves each other no matter what! _So now say- what is in your HAND_?”   
“That’s- not what family is like at all!”  
“ _Oh it is. Family loves each other unconditionally. Family helps each other without question. Family shares each other’s happiness and pain. Family never abandons. Family is always together. Family has no secrets. Family is not egotistical. Family gives each other everything happily. Family only ever does what’s best for family even if it hurts another member of the family for a little. You will be my family, Six, if you like or not.”  
_ “That- that is not even SLIGHTLY what family is like! This is messed up!”   
“I love you, little sister. So one more time… _drop the thing_.”   
Making a split decision, Six lunged at the boy in front of her-  
Just to be abruptly grabbed and picked up by a very large hand.   
The man who chased her had raised her up, revealing his face-  
 _He didn’t have eyes.  
None at all.  
Just sunken in black holes.  
_Panicked Six tried to free herself, the shard falling down to the ground where Mono picked it up, looking deeply sad.  
“WH-WHAT IS THIS THING!? WHY IS THIS ADULT-“  
“ _That… is merely a body_. A receptor for the signal, it is basically dead.” Mono dismissed her. “… _Six… why did you carry something like this around with you? Since when do you have it? Please, you should have told your brother about it.”  
_ “You- are-NOT- my- BROTHER!”   
The thing holding her pressed down and as Mono spoke, it did too, the same voice except it sounded… weird. Like filtered through an old microphone and an old radio at once.  
 ** _“I will be.”_**   
“ _You cannot- MAKE me- ACCEPT YOU_ -“ Her breath was running low, the Thin Man was pressing directly down on her lungs.   
“ ** _That’s fine. We will be together all the same. I love you, Six.”  
_** Finally the squirming girl passed out.  
  
  
When Six woke up again, she was in a bed.  
She was angry.  
And anger could make her hungry.  
Anger and stress.  
Swinging her legs down from the side of the bed she stumbled around, trying to figure out where she was.  
Everything was pinkish and light.  
It was-  
A nice place.  
Somehow.  
She hated to admit it.  
“MONO!” She screamed out-  
Just to be promptly hugged from behind by this traitor of a boy.  
“ _Sister_! You are awake. Did you sleep well?”  
“… do NOT call me that!” She wanted to scream and almost cry in frustration.  
But the way Mono looked at her made her shut up.  
He had taken off the paperbag, revealing his lips and eyes, eyes that were filled with a constant sort of static, a gentle purple glow behind it all. It looked inhuman.   
“… it makes me happy to call you that though.”   
_“I will kill you.”_   
Mono only laughed. “I will protect you from making such a bad mistake as killing me. Who is supposed to take care of you then?”  
 _“I can take care of MYSELF, psycho!”_   
“Six. Enough. I made breakfast for us.”   
Displeased, yet held under control by her appetite, the girl in the yellow raincoat followed her former friend through a few doors, somehow magically ending in a dining room.   
There were some eggs and sausages and pancakes and various spreads-  
And without any further hesitation, Six sat down and dug in, despite still wanting to talk.  
“You can’t MAKE me accept you and you can’t KEEP me here forever.”  
“Why not?”   
“What do you MEAN why not?! Because- because I will run away eventually, that is why! I have no intention of staying. Not with YOU.”   
“Hm.” Sitting down too, Mono bit into his own toast. “But… I think I have a few nice things to offer you.”  
“Like?” It came back grumbling but calmer.  
 _“… the Tower lives, you know? It told me a few terrible things that would happen to you and me. But it won’t if we stay here! So I think that’s a fair deal, don’t you?”  
_ There was no response, and Mono smiled, his lips curling up to ever so slightly reveal his teeth.  
 _“I know you have lot of destructive energy and would want to go out or do something else to let it out- but that’s not necessary anymore, is it?”  
_ Standing up, he put his half-eaten toast carelessly down to go over to Six who was leaning back, her eyes wide and unfocused.  
Panicked the girl stared at Mono.  
 _“I- I feel w-weird Mono…”_  
“Oh, it’s okay, it’s fine.”  
 _“C-can’t think- straight. Dizzy. Mono…?”_   
The plea was music in his ears.  
Lovingly he picked her up and brought her back to bed.  
She was still mumbling something about everything spinning, but Mono chose to disregard that, merely placing her on her bed and holding her hand while looking down at her, casting a shadow over her somehow now even smaller figure.  
 _“Shhh… shhhhh… just relax… close your eyes… you must have caught a cold out there… tomorrow everything might be better. Your brother is here to hold your hand.”  
_  
So many things that this being wanted to do.  
So many people who wanted to take him down but failed.  
 _And yet, finally, finally, after everything_ …  
 _… the wild expression in her eyes vanished, replaced by an insecure, helpless one.  
_ Gently Mono leaned over her and kissed her on the forehead.  
 _And until the thought of their deep bond was established firmly in Six’s mind…  
… Mono would repeat this over and over._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Criticism is very much appreciated if I messed up somewhere and got confusing, apologies if that was the case!
> 
> Hope you guys enjoyed, I think I'll next go off on the "Perfect Dream" AU or the continuation of the previous yandere thing. We'll be seeing that!


	13. Loss of appetite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mono can’t remember the last time he has eaten.  
> Nor does he want to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I mean. Finding out that the original name of Little Nightmares was “hunger”, I was thinking about the theming of food and a few things came up in my life-  
> Then I made a little cross-connection between the title hunger and a character being DELIBERATELY called “thin”
> 
> Warnings:  
> Should be kinda obvious, but major eating disorder stuff, out of the view of someone who is having it. It’s a SUPER SHORT drabble, I promise you won’t be missing much if you skip, so please do if that in any way draws up bad memories or emotions for you

It was an easy state of affairs.  
 _Mono wasn’t hungry.  
_ That is what he told the monster surrounding him.  
He wasn’t hungry.  
But- when you looked closer, things had gotten more complicated all of a sudden.  
 _“I can’t eat.”_ He mumbled, over and over again _. “I can’t eat.”_  
His body didn’t let him and it couldn’t be the fault of the Signal Tower, because it allowed for rather appetizing looking meals to appear, almost like an offering-  
Yet despite how loud Mono’s stomach growled, he shook his head.  
 _“I can’t eat.”_  
 _It was like someone closed the spot between his head and neck. Like there was a tight rope there, making the mere THOUGHT of eating in something that made him want to gag.  
_ His body was whining, his stomach contracting in his body, it hurt.  
Instead of listening to it though, he simply faded off, staring into the nothingness.   
The pain felt real, but it wasn’t that bad.  
 _In a twisted way it was nice, enjoyable.  
It was real. And he could keep doing it._   
When everything had crumbled around him, when all his choices had turned out to be the wrong ones, when Six had turned on him and abandoned him for being unlovable, after having been chased by monsters and his own, doomed self-  
 _At least he could simply not eat.  
He could make his stomach shut up.  
 **His stupid stomach, useless, pointless, something that shouldn’t even exist.  
**_ He wished he could shed it off, he wished he could throw his entire body into the trash and leave, to some other place right through the walls, go and go and go and never grow tired, never hungry, until he found a nice place, a happy place, a safe place-  
  
 _It was like he had to puke.  
No, he couldn’t eat.  
_The smell of food made him cringe.   
The withering in his stomach was bad, but-   
_He couldn’t._  
And he was tired.   
He was exhausted.   
_He was too exhausted to eat._  
Maybe he would eat later, after having rested some more.  
But right now- right now he rather would be sitting here, doing nothing, letting the pain burn bit by bit through his soul.  
Hunger.  
 _Without being able to eat._  
Loneliness.  
 _Without being able to reach out._  
He truly was trapped behind the glass of the TV screen, this time though the screen was in his head and as he cried and punched and scratch on the inside, his body was limp, unmoving, tired.   
_No eating.  
No drinking.  
No crying.  
No moving.  
_Once more the mass approached, with treats and chocolates, pancakes and syrup-  
Slowly and tiredly Mono shook his head.  
Perhaps he wasn’t actually hungry.  
 _Perhaps he was just feeling sick.  
He shouldn’t eat while feeling ill._   
His mouth was dry and everything felt disgusting.  
  
Passively he stared into the screen in front of him, watching old reruns.  
People were laughing, having fun.  
His mouth slightly twitched, even if he didn’t manage to smile fully.  
 _For a few moments, Mono didn’t exist anymore. Only the people in the TV did and they were happy so for a few moments he was happy.  
_ They were sitting together in front of a large breakfast table and they ate.  
 _Mono ate with them instead, because it was much more comfortable_.  
His stomach had long ago stopped making any sort of noise, even if the exhaustion remained.   
But he could put up with it, if he WANTED to he could change it.  
 _This was his choice.  
It was okay.  
_If he could go through this, he could go through anything.  
This pain put other things into perspective.  
 _And he already ate, with the other people in the TV, in his mind-  
That was enough.  
_Distraction was far, far more valuable than food, because distraction lasted longer.  
Being left alone, chewing-   
_(For a moment he shuddered at the disgusting notion of food in his mouth, all turned into wet mush)_  
\- that was unbearable. He would have to feel again. He didn’t want to feel again, he didn’t want to sit there in silence with the appalling objects that he was supposed to force inside of him.  
  
The Tower stared at him.  
He stared back.  
They offered him a slice of bread.  
 _It was just bread.  
Nothing on it.  
_With a soft sigh, Mono opened his hand and accepted it, bit by bit forcing himself to eat it.  
It wasn’t that bad.  
It tasted like basically nothing.  
And it was almost like he ate nothing.  
… better than nothing though.  
Bit by bit he broke down afterwards, holding his head.  
  
Everything hurt.  
And this hasn’t helped.  
He just wanted to feel okay again.  
He just wanted to be faced with a problem he knew how to fix.  
  
The next time the Tower reached out, he shook his head.  
“I’m not hungry.” He said. “I’m not hungry.”  
 _His fantasies were more filling, more freeing than any amount of food could ever be_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Especially the act of denying yourself food has a lot to do with self-punishment, apathy and the desire for control and I feel like these things would fit the Thin Man very well in all of his iterations. It's still pretty fucking sad though, not gonna lie :c
> 
> I like to imagine when he finally visits Six on the Maw, she slowly teaches him a healthier way to interact with his hunger to not make myself sad ;u;  
> Hunger(/Impuls, desire) and how to deal with it totally should be a theme in a positive Little Nightmares version


	14. Fragmented Static (2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He had gotten the Lady to the Signal Tower and that was a feat to be proud of.  
> ... but what would he do now?  
> How was he supposed to ensure their shared signal to never get interrupted?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part two electric bITCH-  
> Hope it will be as well-liked as the first one! I enjoy making continuations, problem is just that I might NEVER STOP AND PUT DOWN A FULL ON FANFIC, I HAVE NO SELF-CONTROL YOU GUYS PLEASE HELP.  
> This already got WAY out of control in length, fourteen pages, 7000 words. H e l p .
> 
> Warnings:  
> Same as last chapter, plus the warning that you MIGHT be lost if you haven’t seen the first one.  
> Additional warnings! I WILL NOT REPEAT THE OLD ONES!  
> VERY suggestive at times (still not NSFW though), cannibalism, violent outbursts (though the Lady does MUCH more damage to the Thin Man than the other way around) .
> 
> ENJOY

Dreamily Mono watched from far, far above, at the tops of a thousand stairs, staring at the ground so far below, where the golden figure sat on a chair, in the middle of everything.  
 _Six_.  
 _She was so tiny, so lovely, it was beautiful…  
_ God, he was happy.  
He has never felt so much happiness.  
Taking in the entire scene, he hungrily attempted to burn this visual into his brain-  
 _Just to remember he didn’t have to.  
He could do this over and over and over again.  
_He could pose his beautiful prisoner, like a doll, like decoration, like an actress, presenting any bit of herself to the obsessed audience.  
 _The audience always got what it wanted…  
… and the audience just happened to be completely made up out of Mono.  
_Sighing satisfied, the Thin Man kept staring.  
The canary was back inside of her cage, where she had always belonged, where she was always meant to be.   
It had flown out when it was still donning its shimmering, shinning yellow coat, before it let go of it, turning greyer, fitting in more so…   
… survival was about fitting in.  
Yet the brave little canary had worn yellow.  
And now… she was wearing it again.   
Shining once more, and this time for Mono and Mono alone.  
Reaching downward he allowed his fingers to cup the frame of his prisoner, as though holding a tiny creature in his giant hands-  
 _But then his expression changed, he showed his teeth and a flare or rage filled him and he violently turned his open palm that had been cradling Six into a fist, crushing her- or at least imagining to do so._   
  
_This right here was a game, a game that he wanted to win.  
_  
 _He had left Six down there, to suffer, alone and in pain._  
And on the flipside, Mono was left to keep away from her, or at least to desperately try to, as every second that she was this far away was ripping him apart.  
He hated this, he hated this so much and it-  
 _It was all Six’s damn fault._  
How did she fucking dare to do this to him.  
To mess with him, to torment him, to inflict this utter, desperate addiction on him-  
 _Addicted, that was the right word, he NEEDED her and it infuriated the man.  
_ It wasn’t fair.   
Nothing about this was fair.  
Everything should have been different-  
And he wasn’t sure in what WAY!  
Moving down, the tower that used to have been a hostile prison to him had now turned into an almost fully obedient lapdog, the doors leading him wherever he wanted and needed them to.  
Hovering now only a few feet above her, he stared down at the unmoving form below.  
 _She was just- just sitting there!  
The Thin Man HATED that!  
_How was she so CALM! Sitting on the chair that he had all those- years? Decades? Centuries?- ago, this place was the loneliest place on EARTH, a place that could break you, DEFORM you-  
And yet there she was sitting, staring forward, as though there was nothing troubling her.  
Raising his hands to his face, Mono slowly dug down into his own flesh, uncaring about the marks it would leave, as the Tower seemed capable of healing him- _so why care about what he was doing to himself?  
_ Just as the nails managed rip open a part of his skin, releasing the blood trapped beneath-  
Something caught his attention.  
A call.  
A gentle noise.  
“… _Mono_. Stop doing this to yourself.”  
Between infuriated and shocked, the Thin Man stared downwards, where the Geisha was still sitting, unmoved, still staring forward.  
“ _You_ …”  
“I heard you. It is not hard to hear you.”   
“How can you hear me? Especially among the static?!”   
“… I can hear you _because_ of this static. Your organic sound stands out among everything else.”  
“You are messing with me.” Without further hesitation, the well-dressed man disappeared and reappeared behind his prisoner, deliberately placing his hands on her shoulders, smiling when he felt the Geisha tense up under him.   
This sensation was so satisfying that he decided to start massaging her to draw more tense reaction out of her- leaning down as he smiled smugly, whispering to his object of obsession.  
 _“… you are so tense. Would you like me to help~?”_   
Smooth and deep his voice wrapped itself around Six just as easily as the long, thin fingers and she slightly leaned back her head, as in a drawn out gesture the Thin Man rubbed the back of his fingers along her neck.  
 _Was she enjoying it?_  
Mono desperately needed to know.  
The Signal Tower was now obedient, but there was one thing lost- and it was his ability to look into Six’s head.   
And it was infuriating.  
After having gotten used to all those little thoughts _\- the spite, the boredom, the frustration and even the regret-_ now it was all stolen from him.   
A grin spread over his face, crawling over his muscles.  
 _Stolen._  
He liked that.  
 _Yes, those thoughts, despite being the Lady’s- they were HIS possession.  
The Lady was now HIS possession._  
It was only natural that every little part that made her up…   
… so why was he being denied this?!  
 _He wanted to turn around and ask the Tower that-  
Or himself?_  
Not sure-  
However, he wouldn’t. Not in front of Six.   
As his eyes focused again, he realized that Six was currently staring up at him, watching his expression closely-  
Abruptly going flustered, but in the same second growing angry about it, his grasp turning brutal and rough, closing around her neck.  
“… what are you staring at.” He growled.   
“You. _Clearly_.”  
Mono grinned, because it was better than frowning and scoffing.   
_“… I thought I fixed that attitude of you by now_.” Clenching down he stared back into her dark eyes. “… do you want me to leave you alone again? _How long will it be this time… days? Weeks? Maybe a month or two?”  
_ Finally, he got one of those _oh so desperately needed_ reactions-  
A hint of an upset expression flickered over the Geisha’s face, or maybe even fear… it was once more satisfying whatever was bleeding inside of his very being, _giving him a rush, a high-_  
Before he knew it, he had leaned down and kissed the Lady.   
Tender and soft.   
_Six allowed it._  
There were once more two emotions rivaling inside of Mono’s very core:  
On one side he hated needing, no, DEPENDING on the Lady’s permission to take what he wanted-  
On the other side he loved how malleable Six allowed herself to be under his touch, that he wasn’t forcing his will onto her body, but that he also was getting right into her head, twisting her from the INSIDE-  
  
 _Twisted from the inside.  
_  
A moment of sadness and panic overtook him as he retracted, shying away from his partner’s touch, as for a second he was awake, aware, knowing that there was just another chain happening here, the Tower infiltrating him _and him infiltrating Six-_  
And abruptly the fear turned into outrage, a violent kind of aggression, reaching up, through the entire Tower, causing it to SHAKE and CRUMBLE-   
_Not even the Tower would be moving its disgusting reach towards Six.  
She was HIS._  
For a moment he quietly realized that he _could_ take the tower down if necessary.  
 _But why would that be necessary…?_  
For a moment he spaced out, trying as badly as he could to figure out why he even thought about this. It seemed like an important piece of information, like something he had been intending… why would he though? What had he forgotten?   
A touch on his cheek broke him out of his trance, causing him to pull back even further, infuriated.  
 _“Don’t touch me.”  
_ “… you seemed to be beyond fine with me touching you a moment ago.” The sarcasm was palpable.  
“I’m obviously not in my right mind. You should have stopped me.”  
Fed up, abruptly the Lady stood up.  
“Oh. Should I have done that? I formerly apologize _. I can and will make sure it will not happen again_.”  
There was a thinly veiled threat inside of those words, however, under the cold, harsh glare of the Thin Man, it didn’t take too long for Six to avert her gaze and reconsider her stance a little… which wasn’t needed, as Mono reached out to touch her once more, letting his fingers wander around the sides of his prisoner’s body, mumbling feverishly.  
 _“… there is not one thing that I don’t despise about you._ ” Despite this, his words were gentle, affectionate as his hands wandered down to Six’s hand, intertwining their fingers, inspecting them.   
_“These hands…”_ He softly mumbled. _“They dropped me to my doom. So gentle, small and delicate, yet a grip so strong they were able to hold me up… until they chose not to. They threw me to the wolves, twisted me up. They let go when I needed them the most.”  
_ Raising them up to his lips he barely brushed against them, before letting go, wandering up her shoulders instead, allowing him to grab her, hold her in place for a moment.   
_“This dress… the bright yellow of your coat… when you put it on, all I could think about was how glad I was that you were protected from the elements- and more selfishly, that losing you would be more difficult now, that no matter what, I would recognize you. It seemed so warm to me. Now though… now I know better.”_ His fingers slipped between the fabric and Six’s skin, piece by piece pulling the yellow kimono open, to reveal the skin beneath- then he stopped. _“… now I know it’s just another warning sign, a bright flash of danger, and everything yellow has been tainted, I cannot even imagine looking at the sun, as it would feel like your touch that I cannot escape.”  
_ Moving the opposite way, back up her neck, cupping her face, staring into her eyes.  
 _“This face… this beautiful, wild face has played me for a fool for way too long…”  
_ His thumbs gently rubbed first over the cheek, then moved further, brushing her lips, as he stared at her, hypnotized.  
 _“And those soft lips… told me nothing but lies. I am sickened by you. Those teeth that you are hiding-“_ He pressed the thumb down, inside of Six’s mouth, until he felt the smooth, hard surface beneath- _“… they have tasted so much depravity. I could never compare to you. Blood and flesh and rot, that is what are made up of from the inside **. I should kill you were you stand**.”_  
Pulling his hands back, his tone had never changed from the soft yearning, regardless of the words he was speaking, almost as though two entirely different beings were trying to talk at the same time.   
It was bizarre, like a TV show that someone put the wrong background music to.   
Finally, his expression changed to frustration.  
“Say something, Six. _Talk to me. DO something!”_   
_“You are still like a child.”_ Haughty the Lady looked up at him- and by that somehow managing to still look down on him. “Impulsive. Needy. Emotional. Have you spent your time in here doing NOTHING? Your words do not impress me, because I know for a fact that there is nothing behind it but an insolent child-“  
That was the last thing she could say, then her mouth was shut by the Thin Man JUMPING towards her, crashing to the (now oddly squishy) ground, pressing down on her with all his strength, which due to a lack of physical activity wasn’t a crazy amount, but considering their size difference, Six still was effectively trapped and being crushed bit by bit.  
Mono was GRINNING, his eyes filled with a manic sort of fury though, his voice a static-filled hiss.   
_“You… you really WANT to drive me insane, don’t you?! You, being all high and mighty, as though you are in ANY way above me, do you think you’ll get away with treating me like those degenerate creatures you invited to your disgusting Maw?!”_   
Pressing upwards, trying to struggle out from under him, the Geisha kicked and wiggled, to no avail. It only had one effect and that was feeding Mono’s mind, proving to him that HE was in control for now, that HE was the one who could chose Six’s face- she was in the palm of his hand.  
 **As she should be.**  
An idea popped into his head- and it felt like a good idea.  
 _“High and mighty… but you… you- you are exactly like all these people you look down on. You only have been hiding the switch to turn you…_ ” Reaching up, for a second the Tower turned back into its flesh form, and an odd appendage reached down, offering him up a sharp, decorative knife.  
… he wasn’t sure where the Tower got it from, but he had accepted long ago that it seemed to either steal from a different reality or create things from its own flesh.   
_“… you plan to cut me? Childish_. Trying to hurt me, because you think that will-“  
“ _No_.”   
His words were quiet again.   
As he kept Six on the ground with his physical weight alone, he rose the knife to his other hand-  
 _Then sharply cut it open-_  
And abruptly Six turned silent and frozen.   
Drips of blood rushed out, quickly turning into a flow and as the first drips hit the floor, Six was fully focused on the red, shining liquid all over her captor’s hand.  
“… say Six… _when was the last time you consumed something with actual taste_?”  
Swallowing, the woman in the yellow kimono stared, only bit by bit realizing she had been asked something.   
_“… it is usually more about the preparation when you… when you do not need to eat anymore…”  
_ Interested, Mono licked a bit of his own blood from his hand, then scrounged up his face. _“… and you really like this stuff?_ If you could have anything in the world, you would really like this most?”   
_“It is more about the act than the blood.”_  
“Are you some sort of leech? A vampire?” Laughing Mono leaned back, raising his arm a bit further, watching Six’s eyes follow like a cat would follow a laser pointer. “… actually I think those things are good names for you. _You leeched off me, you kept me under your spell_ -“  
All of a sudden he stopped, staring at his own bloody hand as though he saw it for the first time.  
For a moment he opened his mouth, closed it again, then he stared down at the figure below him, who’s stomach grumbled a little.   
Mono’s expression twisted in a pained one, a confused one, a _\- needy one._  
 _“… I know these things, so… why… why do I want to give it to you anyways? I know you are a parasite, so why am I- happy about this thought that you would want to- do this to me-?”  
_ There were many things that Six wanted to say in response, offer him an explanation, a reassurance, but her brain would not produce anything, too captured by the view of precious drops going to waste.  
So instead she reached upwards, reached out to carefully pull Mono’s fingers to her lips, tasting the metallic liquid and beginning to lick the hand clean, _an oddly adoring gesture, bordering on worship_ -  
And Mono, who had been looking on with wide eyes, roughly pulled his hand back to pin his prisoner down.  
Shifting his weight, he leaned down so their faces were as close as they could be without touching-  
His voice was audible, even if he couldn’t remember having this intent.  
It was out of breath and pleading.  
 _“Consume me.”  
Fully, to the last bite, he wanted to be torn into pieces and each piece used and abused for Six’s satisfaction, the thought of being his- friend, lover, victim, enemy- feast it was too much for his split apart mind to process in one way, he only wanted her to do it.  
_In one last act he wanted to become a part of Six forever, something that she would never shake-  
 _And Six obliged, opening her maw to swallow him whole._  
Teeth buried themselves into his shoulder, ripping through fabric and skin to reveal everything beneath.   
His skin was heated and red, the pain radiating this fire throughout him, a fire that brought a sense of ecstasy.   
_It was rot, to Mono it was all worthless, disgusting rot, but the way Six chomped and swallowed made him feel like for once in his life he wasn’t a figure on a pedestal to gawk at, not a burden to get rid of, trash to drop, instead being something to WANT_ -  
 _A treat, a reward-_   
Nails dug into his suit and chest- and dizzy from all the pain and blood loss, he reached up to there, unbuttoning the bothersome piece of clothing-  
 _They never left anything behind but clothing, everything else would be used, nothing was a waste, nothing was unwanted…  
… reused, refueled, transformed into a form that would suit him so much better, the burden of thoughts and agony, of regret and emotions, it all was falling off him, being now fully under Six’s grip, a grip that would never loosen._   
Without thinking at all, his hands tightened around Six’s hips, trying to sit up more, to push her closer to himself, her wild heartbeat against his own.  
His eyes were wide and without any thoughts in the way, he could fully indulge in the joy of the face that Six was showing him-  
 _A face nobody ever had seen before_.   
_It barely looked like the one of a person anymore, smeared with fresh, shining blood, the teeth shining bright white and clean from her tongue licking across them, not wasting, not wasting, her eyes full of want, of heated desire so similar to his own, or maybe it was her own and he had simply taken it from Six-  
_ Closing his eyes, his finger slowly growing limp, he gave himself fully over to the pain, the hidden pleasure inside of it and Six.  
  
  
  
  
When the Lady realized the body below her had stopped to move at all, she too stopped with her feeding frenzy, her thoughts returning-  
Her shock was cold, cold as death and she hesitated for a few seconds, not wanting to believe what her eyes were seeing.  
 _This was wrong.  
Those closed eyes, this ashen skin stained with red, red that still dripped from her own mouth._   
This hadn’t been how it was meant to be.  
Stumbling off him, her body still agitated- she didn’t dare to say excited- it was able to perceive it all, every single detail, the smell in the air, the noise of quiet static buzzing from the TVs that were adorning the walls here and there-  
Crawling over again, she carefully picked him up.  
 _“M-Mono? Can you hear me? Mono!?”  
_ No response came.  
In utter denial she began to pick the body up, using her magic to help her out a little, carrying him to the bedroom- _this was fine, this would fine, this could be fixed and if it couldn’t, she could just restart the loop, it wasn’t too late, it wasn’t_ \- her eyes wandered over the walls, for a second feeling like she could see eyes staring back at her.  
 _“DO SOMETHING! **FIX HIM**_!” She cried out in agony-sparked fury.  
Placing him on the bed, she grabbed his hands, irrationally thinking that if she could only keep him warm _\- if only she could keep him warm, he would be alive, people who were alive were warm and it was right that way, he would-  
His hands was warm now, but the rest of his body, this rest would cool out, even under the blanket-_  
Raising the blanket, she crawled under and on top of him, nestling herself in right under her friend’s chin, their chests against each other, her heartbeat so strong that she hoped it would somehow transfer to Mono.  
 _What has she done?  
What was she thinking?  
Why hadn’t she been thinking!?  
She didn’t WANT Mono to-  
To-  
_Her own warmth slowly heated up the blanket they were draped in and Six’s thoughts turned into a multicolored mess, forcing her to close her eyes and try to silence it all.  
  
 _A hand.  
  
Reaching for her.  
_  
 ** _Finding her._**  
  
When Six woke up from her daze, she felt a hand petting over her slightly sticky and still red cheek, fully covering the side of her face with ease and with nothing but gentle intent.  
Another hand was on her hip loosely, wrapped around her along with the arm that it belonged to, that alone fully could cover her.  
It smelled like-   
_Mono-?_  
She opened her eyes slowly, blinking a few times, as the heartbeat below her picked up slightly.   
Yawning she scrambled to remember what happened-  
Then instantly she jumped up, drawing a noise from the man below, the specific noise of when someone who had a bit too much energy was pushing down your chest and stomach.  
Mono’s eyes met with her own, and the Thin Man smiled slightly at the disbelief he was faced with.  
 _“MONO- HOW- WHAT?”_   
“… good morning to you too.” A bit disgruntled he gently pushed Six to the side so she would lay next to him instead of on top, before any other organs of his were at the risk of being pressed out like an orange. “… that is one hell of a greeting after we spend out first night together in the same bed.”  
For a moment the Lady stared up at him.  
Then she proceeded to shove him straight off the bed, causing him to crush into the floor harshly, howling in pain.   
“JESUS CHRIST, _WHY_!? I am still HURT!” Infuriated he dragged himself up again, reaching for Six and capturing her in the nick of time before she could slip away and off the bed, dragging her back inside to him, hugging her tightly from behind.   
His fist was clenched so tightly that it hurt ever so slightly, an unspoken threat.  
 _“… and it was so nice a moment ago_ … you have to destroy EVERYTHING I enjoy, don’t you!?”   
“It was not meant to be nice for you. I was only trying to keep you from dying. I have NO intent on becoming the Signal Tower’s next host, thus I need to be careful.” Prideful Six justified her action-  
 _Just to be shut down by a loud, hysterical laughter, that was then quickly turned into a few hissed words and Mono grabbed her even tighter, not only with arms, but putting his legs up in a way that they closed her off to the sides too.  
“Ooooh, oooooooh noooooo, Six, my doll, you are not getting out of this. You are never getting out of this.”_ His breath was hot behind Six’s ear and on her neck. _“… I have won our little competition. You ate me. You took a part of me with you. I am now forever and always a piece of you, powering ever cell of you. You let me inside. We are now connected, forever and always.”_  
“You are going insane again! I thought you were doing better-“  
“No, Six. Stop lying to me _. It’s like a wedding, once you consume_ -“  
 _“It’s consummate! Not consume! God, MONO, do you really not KNOW that?!”  
“It is the same thing to me. It is good enough. I got into your head, you accepted me, you accepted our new situation.”_   
Struggling only made the pose more intimate somehow _, the smaller one hated how much she could FEEL right now, how HOT her face was, how everything seemed to fit just right, Mono’s chest against her back, his arms around her arms, their legs pressed against each other, trapping Six between them-  
_ But her brain didn’t allow her to rest, it wouldn’t let itself be manipulated.  
She wasn’t some beast moved by instinct, what she did to Mono was an accident, an anomaly-  
“I did not. I gave you my reasons, my desire to not be stuck here forever and that-“ _That what? That she only laid with Mono because it was the right thing to do? That she only ate part of him because she was hungry?_ “That I have not and will not accept you and your craziness.”  
 ** _“Yet you stayed.”_**   
And if this sentence wasn’t bad enough, Mono, as if to stress his words and their meaning, began placing kisses on her neck and exposed shoulder, sending another wave of heat through her.   
_“You had ever chance to leave, but you stayed. You could have gone before I died, the Signal Tower would have merely crumbled at worst, you could have made it and you know it, but instead you stayed by MY side, knowing that if I truly died, it would put you into an impossible situation to escape from…”_  
A small noise- _a wonderful noise, an incredible noise as Mono assessed_ \- escaped Six’s lips as Mono’s hands wandered further down, exploring her frame-  
Then out of nowhere the Geisha grabbed his hands, harshly.  
“I want you to stop touching me.” These words were said without rage or spite, but extremely firm.   
For a second Mono struggled with himself-  
Then he let go, allowing for Six to leave if she so chose, even if his entire body wanted that not to happen.   
It came as it had to, the Geisha stood up, brushing herself off a little, looking to the side with a red tint in the face.  
“… thank you.”   
_“… eventually you WILL let me touch you. You will want it.”_ Mono wasn’t sure if he wanted to convince her or reassure himself, it just felt like words that had to be said. _“Eventually we will spend the entire morning inside of this bed holding each other.”  
_ “That sounds like a threat. And there is no such a thing as mornings here anyways, what you say are the rambles of a lunatic.”  
Obviously flustered, the Lady made her escape to another room, leaving Mono to sink back into the sheets, his head and heart hurting.  
What happened the night before left him still feeling sick, but he didn’t regret it in the slightest. It felt like part of the parasite that had been making its home inside of him and been exposed… _the question left was merely if there was anything left to salvage from him if he would try to free himself from this twisted creature’s grasp.  
_ It felt like it had woven itself into every single of his emotions.  
Closing his eyes, he went back to the fresh memory of holding Six in his arms like that, their bodies like one-  
However, it was hard to imagine it, with her words still ringing in his ears.  
 _I want you to stop touching me._  
What was it that went through him at the moment? It had passed so fast, that he hadn’t been able to realize anything.  
Rage? Frustration? Fear?   
_Did he hurt her? Did he do something wrong?_  
No, no, he let go when he had to. He had to let Six go, because the thought of Six hating what he was doing to her- that was unbearable.  
 _Six had to like it too._  
And she would!  
 _… but what if she would never? What if she would never accept you?  
_ Clenching his jaw, he shook his head, even if his dizziness only got worse due to it.  
 _Six WOULD like it, Six DID like being with him already and- and if she wouldn’t-  
Well, she would kill him.  
He would make Six kill him by attacking.  
He knew Six could do it, Six could erase him, if she didn’t stop herself…  
… but she stopped, she stopped for him, it had to mean she wanted him by her side, right?  
_Panic and hatred and the deep desire to weep in agony grew exponentially higher and he forced himself up from the bed, or at least tried to.  
 _He had to see Six, he had to, or everything would crush down, he would simply seize to exist, everything would BREAK-  
_ The body screamed, Mono didn’t care.  
The pain was too much, Mono didn’t care.  
He was at the brink of ripping open the barely healed wound on his shoulder, when like a beam of clear light, a voice sounded through the alarm sirens of his head.  
“… _Mono_?”   
Six stood in the doorway, her face now free from the dried blood, two cups in her hands, her head slightly tilted in the way she always did when she was confused.  
“… I hope I am not interrupting something, but I thought that perhaps you would feel better after a cup of tea.”  
The Thin Man, who had wriggled himself halfway out of the bed, stared up at her, then SLOWLY made his way back under the blankets, now too embarrassed.  
 _“… y-yes, thank you, that sounds like a good idea.”_  
Sitting down his cup and picking up her own, the Lady took a small sip from the hot liquid, then pulled a bit of honey out to drip carefully a few drops in.  
Mono just watched on, trying to recharge and recover from his time away from Six, a time that despite short had been a taste of true hell.  
Six looked back at him, raising an eyebrow.  
“… honey?”   
“Yes, what can I do for you?” Automatically Mono answered-  
Which promptly caused Six’s expression to flare up red again.  
“I- was asking if you WANTED honey. In your tea. I was not- I- never mind.”  
 _“I think you should call me honey.”  
_ “ _No_.”   
The answer came so- heartless, so disrespectful, as though she could NEVER imagine saying this to him, calling him by a gentle nickname- that pure hatred flared up in his brain, considering all the sweet names he had gifted Six already-  
 _And now she refused to do the same?!  
She thought she could just DO that!?  
Reaching out and up to her, he wanted to GRAB her, to CRUSH her, make her CRY, if she didn’t want to play nice, well THEN-  
_Before his hand could reach her though, Six had reached out in turn…  
 _… they were holding hands._  
Once more it was mercifully quiet in his head as he stared at their interlocked fingers, simply watching, marveling at how right it looked and felt.  
“Drink your tea, Mono. Before it gets cold.”  
Nodding softly, the man reached out to the drawer next to his bed and picked up the cup, blowing on it before taking a sip.  
  
 _Not thinking about anything anymore other than their hands warmly in each other.  
_  
  
  
  
Six was pacing up and down the stairs, her mind caught in thoughts.  
This was bad.  
Really bad.  
Mono was healthy again and more _\- more unstable than ever!_  
His touches were constant, his breath always near, it felt like he wanted them to become one and the same person. As though he wanted them to fuse.  
Six was- _scared_.  
And it wasn’t of the Thin Man, even if he could become unnervingly angry and harsh with her, hell, even biting her or pressing her down for periods of time to establish his dominance, his control-  
But she was mainly scared about how little signals her own body gave her.  
There was no immediate panic to run away, to back off, her body didn’t alert her to his presence anymore, as though it was- _normal_.  
She didn’t want it to be normal, once it became normal, she knew she would be staying here forever, she would not separate from him ever again.  
 _Mono was molding her, with his love and obsession and she couldn’t just-_  
So- something had to be done. _  
She had to run away.  
Leave.  
_Hell, maybe if only shortly, she wanted to see if there was something out in the world left worth it!  
The TVs showed her different scenes and places from the outside, so at least there was SOMETHING left aside from the Tower.   
And the Lady had to see it with her own eyes.  
She needed distance, a clear head, before she would do anything she regretted!  
  
 _She took the first chance she got to slip out.  
It took a while, because it seemed like the Thin Man had eyes everywhere at once and kept looming over her- if in person or just as a presence.  
But she did it.  
Even with a confusing sense of guilt settling into her.   
It wouldn’t take long until Mono noticed and she had to have made some ground before that._  
  
It didn’t take long indeed.  
When Mono woke up and realized this his canary wasn’t with him anymore, he already was upset- however, the dreadful realization that she wasn’t ANYHWERE in the Tower.   
The pure bile bubbling up inside of him, the acid burning through his throat-  
 _It was killing him.  
_ It was as though as soon as he knew Six was gone, his whole body was breaking down, both metaphorically AND physically, as his skin, his appearance, began to glitch out, things SEPARATING from him, while other things from the atmosphere seemed to enter him instead.  
He stepped outside, for a moment closing his eyes, trying to sense the only living being in the Pale City…  
 _Then out of nowhere, something RIPPED in him and he screamed out, so loud and animalistic.  
Around him the entire city rumbled, not only the Tower and the ground began SPLITTING, opening up like the earth had developed a maw of its own, craving to swallow everything whole, parting the city.  
Things had been broken, some things had been put on fire, but Mono didn’t CARE, he was on the look-out.  
_His movement was abnormal and frozen in time seemingly, glitching in and out of this plane, letting the Tower replace his eyes.  
 _Where was his canary?  
_ And what would he do to her once he got her back?  
 ** _Hurt her._  
** That came in unison.  
Then it devolved.  
 _Tie her up!  
Drug her!  
Force a full amnesia on her!  
Break her ankles!  
Take out her eyes!  
MAKE HER PAY, MAKE HER PAY, MAKE HER PAY!_  
How could she have DONE this?! He TRUSTED her! He thought there was something SPECIAL between them!   
SOMETHING THAT TRANSCENDED WORDS AND EVEN FEELINGS, THEIR VERY BEINGS, SOMETHING AT THEIR CORE-  
HOW COULD SIX BREAK THIS!?  
It was as though he had been dropped all over again, and right now he was in free fall.  
 _He only had one choice, his only choice-  
Grasp Six, drag her down, make her part of his hell until one of them seizes to exist, until their very souls evaporated under the pain, then, maybe then, they’d finally be together, maybe then it was finally foreve_r-  
Tears were streaming down his face, he hadn’t even realized that he had started crying.  
His whole body has shaking under the hiccups, broken sounds echoing through the streets of the giant city, as though a wounded animal was dragging itself through it.  
 _An animal.  
What else was left if Six was gone?  
_His mind didn’t function, his soul didn’t even feel like it was there anymore and his body was breaking down under the weight of all the pain, as though trying to kill itself for good.  
The Signal PULSATED.  
 _Where is she, where is she, where is she?  
 **Come back, come back, come back.**_ **  
**The world passed him, he didn’t even know where he was going.  
The eye, the eyes was looking, however he couldn’t see, he couldn’t see anything but the static of agony that laid over him in this very second.  
Below him, the ground made a soft noise, but he disregarded that.  
 _Leaves and grass, wood, branches, dirt and traps-  
It all cried, it all cried out-  
 **Six, Six, Six!**_  
His steps finally stopped in front of a TV, in the middle of the forest.  
 _He had come all the way back here_.  
Looking around, he knew he had to stop here, that there was nowhere left to go.  
Slowly he sank on his knees, his hands turning into a fist and he got ready to break this TV, hopefully once and for all that his younger self would never come back, that everything would stop, that he would be cut up and-  
A soft voice.  
He didn’t even want to believe it was real.  
“… _Mono_ …?”   
Turning as though time had slowed down, he began staring at the canary standing there, hugging herself, her eyes filled with so many emotions-  
Rushing forward, he almost stumbled over himself, lunging at her, pinning her down, holding her, wanting to pull her up and smash her down too- and maybe he did it, there was a weak whimper below him and-  
 _That was it.  
Six was hurt._  
His hand shook as he pulled it back lagging in his movement, staring down at Six’s expression that was slightly scrounged up from the damage, her eyes though… sympathetic.   
“… I deserved that, huh?”   
“ ** _No_**!” Mono cried out, before changing his mind- “ _Yes_!”   
Grabbing his own head own head, he groaned as two parts of him mauled each other, vying for the final decision-  
 _“S-Six what have you been DOING!?”_   
_What have you been doing to me…?_  
“… I went on a walk.”   
“WHY?!”   
“… to think.”   
“ABOUT WHAT!? WHAT WHERE YOU DOING!? ON A WALK?! LEAVING ME!? _YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS, YOU WILL PAY SO BITTERLY, I THOUGHT YOU ABANDONED ME AGAIN, I WAS- I- I W-WAS_ -“   
Reaching up, the Geisha hushed him gently, smiling a little.  
 _“… I was thinking about a nice nickname for you.”  
_ It went silent.  
Then the Thin Man stood up, dusting himself off and promptly picked up Six afterwards, throwing her roughly over his shoulder, much to her dismay.  
“Hey! That is a little rude, I can walk myself!”   
_“I will not let you out of my grasp ever again.”_  
For a while the moved quietly and fast through the city as it twisted around them, before arriving once more in front of the doors.  
When the doors menacingly opened, Mono spoke up.  
“… what is the nickname you chose for me?”   
It was easy to guess that Six was embarrassed in the pause that formed between them.  
 _“... it is- mockingbird.”_   
The way that Mono stopped made is clear that she had to justify herself.  
“Firstly, if you call me a bird, like canary, then you should have a bird nickname too. The mockingbird is grey, like you and it is a bird capable of imitating quite a lot of sounds, fitting in despite being not even part… of _them_. It reminds me of you.”  
Somewhere she heard it was a sin to kill a mockingbird, though she wasn’t sure why.   
It had stuck with her though.  
After a moment Mono spoke up.  
“… the canary and the mockingbird.” He rolled it around in his mind. “… I think I like it…”  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 **(Alright, have a little bonus self-indulgent thing tacked onto this, even if it gets really unrealistic-**  
 **If you don’t feel like reading anything particularly weird like soul-fusion, feel free to stop reading now, thank you for spending your time with this fic ^D^)**  
  
  
  
  
  
  
However the punishment had to happen.   
The fact that Six had managed to escape…  
She would never, never ever, be allowed to be out of his reach… however it wouldn’t be easy to guarantee such a thing.   
Unless what he planned to do would work out.  
The Geisha was sitting on the chair, staring up at him, raising an eyebrow as the Thin Man carefully placed a hand on her forehead.   
“… what exactly are you doing…?”   
_“I will tune your signal.”  
_ “What.”   
In disbelief Six stared up at her partner.  
 _“I am not made out of signals, Mono.”  
_ “We all are, to some extent. The attraction between out smallest parts is keeping us together, our minds send electrical signals back and forth between our neurons, to let the body think _. I will synchronize us, once and for all.”  
_ His words were a gentle mutter, he finally seemed at peace, even if his eyes had the manic glow to it.  
 _“I- I do not think I like the sound of that-“_   
But her insecurity was clear, Mono knew he would be able to proceed.  
“… _it’s okay_ , just sit still.”  
“What if-“   
And before she could say anything, the Thin Man PULLED and PUSHED reality, twisting it all up, _twisting Six’s head all up-_  
It wasn’t painful, not directly, however her brain was going into overdrive as though it DID, it made her want to scream out and she wasn’t even sure why.  
 _All she knew was that something within her CHANGED-  
_ She and the chair fell backwards, Six stumbling to get up again instantly.  
  
For a moment she checked over herself to see if she got hurt or something bad happened.  
However, everything seemed fine.  
Concerned she looked up at Mono, who stared back at her and-  
 _I love you  
I love you  
I love you_  
It echoed in the back of her brain, loud and clear, not truly words but more so deep emotions that were saying this, but these were not her own- she gasped, as Mono chuckled, moving towards her, reassuringly putting his hands around her, pulling her closer.  
 _I love you  
This is abnormal  
I love you  
What did you do?!  
I love you  
Is there a way to fix it?!  
Now that I know what you think, I will find you wherever you are  
You are not alone anymore  
I was FINE being alone  
No, no, what about the pain? Don’t you remember the pain…  
_The Lady held her head, forcing out words.  
“What… _w-who is even thinking anymore…_?!”   
_“It’s okay, Six.”_   
Mono’s emotions were strong, domineering, and her body reacted to them with ease, as her heartrate picked up and she almost instinctively cuddled into the grasp.   
Beyond satisfied the man rose his hand to pet over the Lady’s long hair, marveling in how beautiful his canary was.   
_A bird capturing a bird in a cage._   
“… the Signal Tower.” Six mumbled, putting things together. _“… it is in your head. And you- you used the same technique to get into mine.”  
_ “ _Mine_.” Mono echoed dreamily, confirming his lover’s theory without words, as he had already moved on to the next topic. “ _Now you are mine. It is impossible to separate us anymore. We will always have the other one with us.”  
_ Quietly Six looked at him-  
But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t be unhappy or scared about it.  
Finally things felt right or perhaps Mono was just MAKING things feel right, but it felt better than she had felt in- since she could remember.  
Like a burden was lifted from her.  
 _“No more secrets.”  
“No more secrets.”  
_  
  
Mono was laying with his head in Six’s lap, as she gently petted over his head, caring for him lovingly.  
The screens around them had slowly shut down over the years.   
\- LOST TRANSMISSION -   
That was all they depicted now.  
Where before they offered a view into the world, now they were broken down and quiet.  
There was probably nothing to depict left anymore.   
There was no world outside the Signal Tower anymore.  
Only two things were left and it were Six and Mono, holding each other’s hand, looking into each other’s eyes and mind, enjoying the peace and quiet and the knowledge, that the nightmares were over now for good.  
NREM.  
The deepest sleep.  
The dreamless sleep.  
Where there was nothing  
 _And perhaps one day everyone would wake up again…  
_ … but there was no rush.  
 _Only two hands in each other.  
Only two people who loved each other.  
That was all that was left.   
_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, that was fun!
> 
> Next I might write something small, like some ThinMono/Six drabbles about them actually running away from the Signal Tower together, because the more I think about it, the more hysterically funny it gets to have poor ThinMono bullied like there's no tomorrow.  
> Or perhaps, if it comes to it, the "Sweet Dream" AU, though that will be a borderline fully fledged fanfic, so I'm not sure how to tackle it yet. (But I mean, that one also has Six as a prisoner, so at least it has something going for it-)
> 
> Or maybe a request if an easy one comes up! Right now I have a Roleswap request lying around, but I want to fully think that one through. It's not forgotten!
> 
> UNTIL NEXT TIME!


	15. Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You are a good teacher, a great teacher and your girlfriend is too!  
> Except-  
> Not anymore.  
> Now you’re alone.  
> And in danger.  
> You just want things to go back to how they were before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may or may not have listened to Baldi’s Basic’s songs while writing this.  
> Just a short and sweet actual one-shot, because this is a rare character to get spotlight, as far as I have been told and I wanted to give it a shot to what my gut tells me.  
> Thank you to GuessIllDie69 (noice name btw) for the request! I know this won’t be exactly what you had in mind and I apologize, but I wanted to just have something easy for me, it sticks mostly to your idea!
> 
> I admit, I'm NOT happy with what it ended up being, but I hope this will do and make you happy! It's surprisingly hard to write TWO characters that have no names, I TRIED HOWEVER. I TRIED. AND I TRIED TO BE SPEEDY, SINCE AFTER TODAY I MIGHT GET SLOWER WITH UPDATES.
> 
> Yandere!Teacher/Fem!Reader!  
> Warnings are the usual warnings for yandere:  
> Possessive/Obsessive relationship (controlling behavior, locking up, projecting the relationship to be much more intimate than it is), plus a fair bit of sadism from the Teacher!

You loved your job.  
Everything about it!  
You loved the students, who, despite being rambunctious, were sweethearts who were easily excited for the art projects you proposed.   
You loved the school, the playground where you had even spent your own childhood days- this was an old and esteemed school- and always smiled when you saw them run around, scream in delight.  
And… _  
__… you loved her.  
_ Thinking about her still made you giddy. You weren’t sure how you managed to get her attention, but now you two were dating.  
She was the teacher for math and biology and she was GOOD at it.  
You never had been- but maybe that had been why you clicked.  
Shyly you had entered the biology classroom after classes were dismissed and inspected the incredible anatomy model that this place had newly received, when she entered too, surprised to see you there.  
“Oh. Hello.” She was a generally strict person- but incredibly fair too.   
In the beginning you had thought she was looking down at you for being just an arts and crafts and music teacher.   
Now you knew she would never make such a quick judgement.  
“A-ah, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I just wanted to look at this model- it’s very well made.”  
A bit she frowned and you felt like you said something stupid-  
Then she agreed with you.  
“Yes, absolutely… but… one part is missing.” She admitted. “I don’t know how it went missing but this is very frustrating, I have to say…”   
You wanted to help, of course you did.  
“I could- I mean- if you WANTED to, I could try to create a replica?”   
“You know how to do that?” Surprised and impressed she looked at you- you just shyly nodded and smiled.  
“It’s not that hard…”  
“Well then, great! Please do it for me, if it’s not too much of a bother.” She turned to leave.  
Suddenly you realized something, growing embarrassed.  
“Ah- e-excuse me?”   
The Teacher turned to you, looking expectantly. “Yes?”  
“I…” You swallowed. “… I don’t know which part is missing or what it’s supposed to look like…”  
Eventually you were sitting closely together by the table. She didn’t chastise you harshly for your lack of knowledge, instead she took the opportunity to explain it all to you, in a way that finally made sense. _  
__It was nice, sitting with her, you using your tools and she sharing knowledge and carefully instructing you.  
It was all easier back then_ _.  
  
  
_ You had dated for a fair while by now and things had started… changing.  
Only a little of course. _  
_ _You felt like the kids had become a little bit brattier.  
_ She agreed with you- but disagreed on how to handle it.  
“Sit down THIS instant, Benny! What do you THINK you’re doing! Your parents will hear about this- and if I catch you trying that during class, I’ll put you in the back and we will have a talk AFTER school’s out!”   
Benny’s face scrounged up, he grumbled, but turned away-  
“COME BACK HERE. You will CLEAN the mess you made!”   
Her voice was loud and angry and you winced every time you heard it.  
“… don’t you think you are too hard with them?” Approaching Benny, you kneel down with the boy, helping him pick the shards up. “Hey there Benny. Why did you even do this?”   
The boy mumbled something about not expecting it to break so easily.  
“But it did, Benny. It’s not okay to break other people’s stuff. You have to learn that, it’s work and it also makes people sad.”  
Finally Benny nodded, a bit more sincere now. _“… I’m sorry.”_ _  
“_ … good. You know what, if you promise me to be very careful with the stuff from other people from now on, you can get back to your break. _But ONLY then_ _!”  
His eyes lit up a little as he nodded. “Of course Mrs.! I promise I won’t do it again!”   
_“Good boy. Now out with you!”   
He skedaddled, leaving you alone with her disapproving glare.  
She sighed. “I know what you were trying to do, but it’s NOT good for the kids. How are they supposed to learn?!”   
“They learn a lot from this.” You insist. “First and foremost, that being kind and honest goes a long way, even if you do mess up.”  
“You’re not their mom.” She shook her head. “And children in that age NEED boundaries. They need to learn about appropriate environments and which person you’re allowed to treat how. Kids who get let off with their actions too much turn into bullies.”  
You gasped, appalled.  
“Now, come on- Benny just broke a vase! _That’s far away from being an actual bully._ _”  
“_But it’s a step there.” Her hard eyes turned a bit softer as she looked at you. “… I’m glad though you try to see the best in them… sometimes it gets hard after all the things I’ve seen.”   
You wanted to ask, but you also didn’t want to pry.  
So instead you changed the topic.  
“… I feel like the children get wilder because they spend the entire day at home in front of the TV. They’re cheap and parents nowadays think you can put that thing on, and all your problems are gone… it’s a sad state of affairs.”  
Surprised she rose an eyebrow _. “_ _You don’t watch TV_ _?”  
_ “I don’t even HAVE one!” You proclaimed, getting a little bit heated as this was an important topic to you. “It’s useless.”  
“They’re cheap though. And you can watch the news.”  
“You can buy a newspaper or listen to the radio.”   
“There are a lot of good shows on there too. One is not that long to watch every day, maybe half an hour episodes and it’s about a teacher like you and her life in a school run by students!” Delighted she smiled. “It’s very funny, I’m sure you’d like it if you try it.”  
“No thank you.” Firmly you responded. “I’d rather not even get near any. Electro-smog hasn’t been investigated enough either! I rather spend my free time with other things.”   
“Like for example…?”   
“Reading! Or uhm- playing the piano.”  
Once more surprised by you, she tilted her head. “The piano… makes sense, I don’t know why I haven’t guessed that. I used to play piano back in the day, but it never was fun to me.”  
“What!? Why not?! It’s so nice to make music, it can really bring your inner self out!”   
“Ah… I only liked simple melodies. Eventually it ended up giving me a headache, all these intricate… pompous extra around it.”  
“Then why did you play it?” Confused you asked.  
“… what do you mean?”   
“Why did you play melodies you didn’t like?”  
“Because… I can’t just play the same thing over and over again. That would be ridiculous.”  
“I think it would be nice, actually.” You smile. “If that’s what’s fun for you, then- let’s go into the music room together! Let’s play the same thing over and over and see if we like it.”  
“But- that would be boring-“ She protested.  
“If it gets boring, we’ll try something new!” Cheerful you say, and in a very daring gesture took her hand.   
She blushed a little, but allowed you to drag her out to have a nice, simple time, making music, over and over again. _  
  
_ _What you didn’t know what happened later was that the Teacher later tracked down the boy, smiling like frozen.  
“Hello again, Benny.”   
Recently her neck had hurt a lot, so she stretched it a little to the left and the right, trying to get the odd pain out, her eyes still transfixed on the kid though, who was shaking.  
“M-Mrs. Teacher…?”   
The harsh slap of a ruler was followed by a scream.  
“You made my lovely girlfriend kneel. You made my LOVELY girlfriend clean up after YOUR mistake.”   
It didn’t take a lot to make a child cry and he was almost in hysterics.  
“I- I AM S-SORRY-“   
“SILENCE!” Even harsher the wood came down, across his face, deep, deep hatred for this kid twisting her smiling expression. “I will teach you a lesson now, Benny. A lesson you will never forget. And afterwards you better make sure to respect your art teacher… **and be seen, NOT heard!”**  
_ _  
  
  
_ _Yes, you didn’t know what happened.  
Not at all._ _  
  
_It happened over the summer vacation, the sun stood in the sky bright and warm, and you were happiest in your home.  
Your girlfriend wasn’t able to come visit you, as she volunteered to help children in a place- where exactly?   
Somewhere on the ocean, she jokingly called it “the Nest”.   
Of course you supported her, it would pay handsomely and she would gain new experiences- and probably help the poor girl out, who was stuck so alone out there.  
You had hauled a lot of things, bunking up.  
Living far outside of the city, so far that you needed to take the train mostly, you tended to live as though you prepared for the apocalypse, having food two months, so you didn’t have to rely on going out and buy so often.  
You liked making the trips for the kids- and often you slept in your girlfriend’s house, who lived much nearer by the school, but for food? Nah. You rather gathered it. _  
_ _  
You never saw it coming._ _  
_  
It was like you entered a different world.  
The Pale City- it had DECAYED!  
How else could you describe it?!   
All the color, all the life, it was GONE, the streets were ghostly and empty too.  
There were no sounds of cars, of people, of _children_ -  
The city had always been too loud for you, but now it was- _too quiet_. Way too quiet. It was like a monster was stalking the streets that had preyed on everyone who dared stepping foot out- and you felt like you were on a silver platter.   
What- what happened to your girlfriend?!  
Maybe- you should go to the harbor. The last message you had gotten a letter from her was about her saying that there might would be a few delays with the ship back, but that she loved you and would come over as soon as she was back and to not worry.  
Was she back?  
Was she still out on sea?!  
And what about your students?!  
You NEEDED to get to the school. It felt like the safest place right now and the thoughts of children hiding in there, terrified was killing you.  
Rushing forward, you looked around, always averting your gaze when you saw a television screen. Before you thought they were a bad influence, but now they- they scared you.   
_Maybe you were a little superstitious…_   
After a whole while of walking through the broken city, finally you saw something that relieved you.  
A group of people!   
They were gathered in front of the television- perhaps checking for news? Where was the government in all of this?! Perhaps the TV DID hold some answers…  
… but for now you wanted to greet the survivors and ask what happened.  
“H-hello! You guys! There! I- I just arrived in the city, what happened?!”   
Nobody acknowledged you.  
They didn’t even turn to glance at you.  
Uneasy you approached closer.  
“Uhm- please, guys, I could really need some help right now. I don’t know what happened-“  
Reaching out, you put your hands on one of their shoulders-   
A grave mistake.  
It- _this wasn’t a person, this was a CREATURE, a MONSTER_ \- screamed, loudly, and swiped at you. If that wasn’t bad enough, you felt your hair stand up and something invisible PULLING on you, the other creatures now turning around, their faces messed up, twisted and dead too-  
  
 _You ran._   
  
You ran and ran and ran as fast as you could, you rushed, your breath hurting you, but you kept running, leaping over gaps wider than you liked-  
Until finally, you saw your beacon of hope.  
 _The school._  
And none of the faceless-monster in sight.  
You rushed in, entering through the front door-  
 _And your heart BROKE._   
The entirety of the inside was ripped apart. Like a hurricane had come through!   
Or an earthquake… the rips in the roads outside also implied that. But you would have NOTICED such a devastating earthquake, right?!  
With a shaking voice you called out.  
 _“H-hello…? Is- is anyone here…?”_   
Your eyes watered.  
 _You wanted nothing but to see the kids again.  
You wanted nothing but to see your girlfriend again.  
Everything was wrong.  
_“H-HELLOOoOOOooooOO?”   
The noise of tiny footsteps alerted you.   
“K-kids?! It’s me! Your art teacher! Please, come out- I- I’m here now, things will be okay!”   
For a moment it was quiet…  
… then two kids scuttled around the corner.  
You gasped.  
“Benny! Jennifor! _You are okay_!” Kneeling down, you opened your arms and hugged them- terrified at how cold they felt. “You two- _thank heavens you’re okay_. Did- did someone else come here? What happened? Are there other kids here?”   
The two children looked at each other, then they pointed down a hallway.  
“… ah, you must be- very shocked. It’s okay, you only have to talk if you want to.” You looked up. “Is- is someone else here?”   
Maybe-   
_She_?  
“Wait here.” You softly instructed them. “I’ll be checking and then I’ll come back.”  
It took only a few steps inside and then you saw a figure standing there, a familiar figure.  
“Y-YOU-! _YOU ARE OKAY_!” Rushing forward, you jumped the Teacher, squeezing her in a tight hug, at the bring of crying. “OH GOD, OH GOD, OH GOD- YOU’RE HERE AND OKAY AND-“  
Stepping back, shaking, you looked up at her-  
 _For a second you could swear she didn’t realize who you were-  
_ Then her usual warmth came back.  
She returned the hug, wrapping her arms tightly around you, giving you a gentle kiss.   
“ _Oh darling, you are fine_! You’re healthy and made your way back to me!”   
“Y-yeah and by god that was hard- I- the entire city is in pieces! And the monsters- what are they?! What happened!?”   
Raising a finger, she hushed you.   
Somehow, it helped a little, because the answers would probably be far too much right now.   
“Darling, please. Relax. Breathe. Here everything is okay.”   
_“Now that we’re together… I can almost believe it.”_   
_You wanted to be optimistic, SO badly. You wanted to believe her, despite the monsters and the destroyed parts all around the school-  
Everything would be okay in here, with her and the kids._  
… yet despite how optimistic you were, her next words perplexed you.  
“Everything in due time, darling. Please, let me bring you to a room to rest, I’ll have to attend classes and I need to focus during that time… I will be back as SOON as I can though. Soon we could teach together, wouldn’t that be wonderful?”   
Her gently petting over your cheek almost made you forget about what she said- it was TOO much to take though.  
“C-classes? _Dear, I think we can’t just teach_ , we need to plan on how to get the kids out of the city! I’m proud of you for trying to keep a resemblance of normalcy for them, I just-“  
She had grabbed you, too harshly, you let out a small gasp.  
“Darling, please, please, my love-“ She pulled you close, kissing you, even if you really didn’t feel like this was the right time. “… I SAID everything to its time. Please stop interrupting me and do as I say.”   
_Something about this felt WRONG.  
Something about the choice of words.  
Sure, she had been your superior and more experienced, but this sounded almost condescending, as though you were a little girl- which was the LAST thing that applied to you.  
_Goofy? Weird? A bit scatter-brained?   
Sure.   
But you were knowledgeable and competent.  
You could HANDLE things.  
Her grip had by now loosened, instead gently taking your hand, smiling once more.  
“Now that this is sorted out… come along darling!”   
Reluctant you followed along, perking up when you had children screaming and laugh.   
“There are more kids here! You really kept them safe! You’re amazing!”   
“Of course… that’s what we teachers do! Educate and protect, to give children’s the best chance they can have in life… but it’s never enough time. There’s so much to teach them.”  
You frown a little.  
 _Everything about this was weird.  
_ “I- I guess. Are we- talking about surviving out there? Are you teaching them that? Because I could use such a lesson too f---------- _-AaaAAAAAH_ -“ You almost went onto you knees as the grip tightened again, hurting you badly this time, so tears would shoot up into your eyes. “ _Y-you’re hurting me_!”   
“I’m sorry.”   
It sounded genuine.  
 _“The pain just looks so exquisite on your face…!”_  
The way she looked at you made you shuddered, but you tried to stay calm.   
This time you stayed quiet, as they were getting around to the sleeping quarters for the students who came from abroad.   
_Somehow you managed to relax a little again.  
_ Even if things were breaking down around you, at least you were with your love again. That gave you a bit of strength.  
 _She was probably traumatized too, after all. There was an explanation for all of this._  
Your brain shut the thought down immediately, as Benny and Jennifor ran past you.  
 _Followed by Jennifor.  
And Jennifor.  
And Benny.  
They made vaguely human noises, but they WEREN’T human noises, they were-  
One last kid rushed past you.  
… it had no head.  
_You tried to stop, but you COULDN’T, you were being dragged, dragged against your will.  
 _“Please, what- what is going on?! What happened?! Are you- are you really_ -“   
The Teacher’s words were calm.  
“It _is_ me, Darling. Everything is okay.”  
“Th-“  
“You upset me sometimes. _Yet I still love you_. I think fifteen slaps with the ruler on the hand will suffice, because you’re new here.”  
 ** _“STOP THIS! WHAT ARE YOU SAYING!? WHY- WHY ARE THE MULTIPLE- BENNYS- WHAT ARE THEY?!”_**   
Disappointed she sighed and stopped, ripping your arm upwards to better look at your face, her expression harsh.  
“Raising your voice towards the Teacher. Talking back against the Teacher. Defying orders from the Teacher. _Darling, I love you, but if you keep this up, you will be put into the isolation room for a week_. So, no more questions.”   
What would you do?   
_Keep quiet?  
Say something?  
_You chose to keep quiet for now. The isolation room didn’t sound like a place to be.  
She led you into a room, seemingly designed for two adults and told you to get comfortable, waiting for the evening.  
 _You heard the lock click.  
_ … nothing you could do anything about though. _  
For now you looked for a way out- just in case._   
  
  
When she came back, you were sitting on the bed and she moved right towards you, her ruler in hand.  
Slightly she smiled, her neck- twitching a little.  
“Usually around this time I would be making some music, to remember you _… but this is better, so much better!”  
_ You stayed quiet, anxious about the situation, praying for the best.  
She approached even further-  
Putting down the ruler on the table.  
Her expression softer.  
“… if you promise not to tell the students, I won’t punish you today.” Almost instantly her expression turned back though, stern. “But this is THE only time. Because it’s YOU and because you only arrived today.”   
_Her typical fairness.  
No preferential treatment._  
What to say?  
“… thank you.”   
She reached out towards your head, gently petting over it.  
“Good girl.” She praised, before sitting down next to you, leaning her head on your shoulder. “… it had been a terrible few… wait… _what day is it_?”   
“Uh-“ You weren’t sure.  
“ _Never mind._ The point is that it has been hard, especially without you. I love the children… but I need someone to talk to! Someone who will understand and who will not just teach me like a teacher.”  
You bit your tongue, not pointing out that she had just been treating you like a student with those punishments.  
Instead you listened to her.  
She was… rambling.  
 _But not in an abnormal manner.  
These were normal complains.   
Every day complains.  
_When she went quiet you kept quiet too, until the last few words were muttered.  
“… _point is… I’m so tired. And I’m so happy you’re back. I don’t know how long I could have continued like this… but now… now we can music again. The kids can have music and art lessons again, that will make them so happy… oh and maybe, maybe I can finally dream again. When I close the eyes, recently there’s just… spirals. Void spirals.”  
_ Snuggling into your side, she smiled.  
 _“… you always gifted me sweet dreams, darling. Please keep doing so.”  
_  
 _It was silent for a while.  
Until…  
… she was asleep.  
Hesitantly you look at her, before petting over her head.  
_If you’d try to move, she would wake up, so for now you were stuck.  
… it seemed like a hint of her was still inside of there.   
… was it worth trying to draw it out?  
There were answered you needed and you didn’t know where else to go.  
Reluctantly you decided to stay.  
You needed answers. You prayed this was the right place to find it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Criticism/ideas as always appreciated!
> 
> See you soon! ;3


	16. Giants are barely more than enlarged dwarves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The snakes bites itself in the tail, the kidnapper becomes the kidnapped and the exceptionally evil Dorito has nothing better to do than to torment and take care of her (horrendously changed) best friend.  
> Sounds like a good time to me!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title is actually part of a german children’s song!  
> “Giants aren’t all that large  
> Barely more than enlarged dwarves  
> The giants feel a giant fear  
> When you dance all  
> Over  
> Their nose~!”  
> Shoutout to Tabaluga and the journey to Maturity (Tabaluga und die Reise zur Vernunft), it has so many good songs.  
> Or at least I think that is what it would be called in English, it’s all german. In german it’s directly translating into the journey to Reason, but maturity is the main theme! This specific song is about a child and a giant becoming friends despite the giant being so terrifying that everyone else hides, the child just not KNOWING better and making this friendship happen. Dancing on someone’s nose means messing with them/disrespecting them, which is what the kid kinda does,since when the giant kneels down to him, he sings for him his favorite giant-mocking song.  
> The kid was forgotten apparently by his parents while evacuating, it’s fucked up now that I think about it.  
> Anyways, it’s to me now ThinMono&Six’s theme song and nobody can stop me.  
> I was relistening to the song and decided to make some more ThinMono/Six drabbles about them running away and being VERY incompetent.
> 
> WARNINGS:  
> ThinMono/Six. Usual warnings apply about them and their usual intimacy when interacting with each other and me not wanting anyone reading not expecting it and becoming uncomfortable.  
> Six kinda bullies him for having a crush, just as she usually does with Mono, except this time it’s DEPRESSIONMONO.  
> This chapter is VERY light-hearted, because it’s MY fanfic and I get to drop the horror element. It’s just them running away from the city and having an incredibly cute dynamic.

“This is a terrible idea, Six.”  
Footsteps, two of them.  
One small, one large.  
Pitter patter.  
“Oh shut up, so far you only had terrible ideas in your life.”  
“… that hurt!”  
“Truth always hurts, Mono.”  
“What about myse-“  
“Once you are removed from the city, I am sure everything will be okay.”  
_“Are you calling me the source of all problems?”  
“Are you saying I am wrong?”  
“Why are you so mean to me…”_  
“… I am not! I am getting you out of here! We will find a nicer place, I promise you, Mono.”  
_“Don’t promise something like that…”_  
Two very different friends were rushing from around the corner trying to cover some ground.  
“You told me what I did to you and I said I would never. And now I will fix it, that is not too much of a promise.”  
A girl in a yellow raincoat was running forward at impressive speeds for such tiny legs.  
“Promises are a serious business, and you shouldn’t ever promise something you aren’t sure you can actually fulfill!” Behind her was a man clad entirely in grey, he was rushing too, barely keeping up with the small, evil, yellow triangle on the ground.  
“Then you cannot EVER promise ANYTHING though. What if I promise you to give you to smile at you and then I suddenly get shot?! Boom. Not a held promise.”  
“Maybe you SHOULDN’T promise things, yes!”  
_“You promised to be my friend forever.”_  
_“And that is why I’m doing this incredibly stupid thing right now_. I wish I hadn’t.”  
Abruptly Six stopped to stare up at him- her face obscured by the shadows, but the hurt very clear.  
_“… do you mean that?”_  
Slightly shocked at this intense reaction, he hesitated for a moment-  
“… no. I’m- happy. Thank you for-“ His words shortly broke. _“… thank you for coming back for me. I- I stopped believing in it.”_  
Perking up again, Six nodded.  
“Then hurry! I want to be out of the city as soon as possible. Who knows what that weird Tower will do to us.”  
“I think the Signal Tower is a more minor concern, I’m cancelling out the signal… the viewers can become a problem.”  
“Are they not fans of you?”  
“… no. _They wanted me to keep creating things for their consumption, they didn’t care about me as a person_. As soon as I stopped, I’m not only not their beloved broadcaster anymore, but also the reason in their mind that they AREN’T getting their fix anymore.”  
“So you mean the city is filled with who knows how many feral TV-zombies who will kill you on sight and pursue you as long as they physically can?”  
“… _yes?_ ” Guilty the Thin Man looked at his friend. _“… you don’t have to- go with me_. If you make your way alone, you might have a better chance. I… _I don’t want to become a burden to you_.”  
_“You are a burden with your STUPIDITY.”_  
“Hey!”  
“I am NOT leaving you behind! Why would you even think that?! Do you think that is why you were dropped?!”  
“I- _maybe_ -“  
“Well another reason not to consider yourself that. Because dropping you was wrong, was it not? So the reason was wrong too and you are NOT a burden.”  
Something was wrong with that line of logic, but Mono was a bit too relieved to try and figure it out.  
Six checked around the corner to test for Viewers.  
“Clear!” She mumbled and they continued forwards.  
This play repeated a few times.  
Clear.  
All clear.  
It would go fine.  
_That had to be to expected though…  
… every story knew to make the last stretch the hardest one.  
_Six froze.  
“There are a group of Viewers.” For a few moments more she watched. “They are walking, sometimes hitting the glass of the stores. We could make it past… but how?”  
Mono, who had leaned around the corner too, his head far above Six’s, stared out. “ _There is a few piles of rubble. If we sneak, we can cower behind them until they pass-“  
_Staring up to him, Six was not showing a single reaction.  
“… I guess that is what I can do, seeing how small I am, but what will YOU do?”  
“Fu- _darnit_!” Quietly the Thin Man cursed, hiding back behind the wall _. “And the streets around here are ripped apart too to ridiculous degrees_. We can’t just take another road.”  
“And there is a car.” Six added.  
“What?”  
“There is a car! I think we should use it to drive out, it will come in VERY handy.”  
“I- I don’t-“  
“I have a plan!” Six’s eyes flared up excited. “Even if it costs us the car- I could sneak over there, in there and then honk the horn! It would draw all of them to me, at least for a bit, I will hide inside- and you can sneak past.”  
“That sounds-“  
Before he could tell her it was a bad idea though, Six was gone, sneaking forward.  
Panicked Mono wanted to call out for her to come back- yet that would only be a death sentence for them.  
With beating heart he watched Six move, timing herself well-  
But not good enough.  
Mono could see it before Six could and he wished with all his soul for some sort of psychic link to WARN her-  
IF SHE WOULD STEP OUT NOW SHE WOULD DIE!  
_If-  
If he could call out now they both would die.  
It all of a sudden felt like he was stuck under the bed again, it was tight and dark and he could only see a pair of legs step around-  
_The viewer had discovered the person in the raincoat, screeching, drawing everyone else’s attention as well, who screamed too.  
Six was frozen, staring up-  
_A hand reached out for her, glitches around his entire body.  
She looked into Mono’s eyes, reaching out in turn, wordlessly crying for help-  
Wordlessly as she knew that if Mono didn’t want to be discovered, she didn’t want to betray him-  
But Mono betrayed her, Mono betrayed HER by stay silent, dooming her-  
Not this time.  
This time he crawled from under the bed.  
_And all it had taken was an eternity to learn.  
“ ** _LEAVE HER ALONE!_** ” His voice was loud, louder than he as expected and ANGRY, angrier than he realized he was.  
Immediately the viewers stopped, staring at the Thin Man seething in front of them-  
Then they began rushing towards him.  
“ _MONO_!”  
Raising his hand he looked at the twisted masses of flesh and vile addiction.  
_Tune the signal._  
_Erase from this show.  
This is not how the plot is supposed to go.  
_It hurt him, it hurt him this pulling around him, more than usual.  
The signal wasn’t amplified out here anymore, his signal was strong, but not as strong as it could have been-  
_But it was enough.  
**It had to be enough.**_  
Pushed back he stumbled, then rose his hand again-  
And again-  
_Until the static left his brain once more.  
_There was only one being left standing.  
On top of the car stood Six, still smaller than him, by less now though.  
Slowly Mono walked near, wanting to reach out for- _for comfort, for stability, for anythin_ g- but he feared that would scare his friend…  
… after she had to witness his hands do this.  
The static was no protection.  
_He could see them twitch into themselves, as though being dragged out of reality.  
That had been a slaughter.  
He had slaughtered them and at some point he was sure he had heard something akin to crying-_  
Terrified he looked at Six, wanting to apologize, wanting to make it right-  
_Yet Six’s eyes were GLOWING with admiration.  
_Breathless she smiled.  
_“That was… incredible…!”  
_“I- I’m so sorry- _you shouldn’t have- I shouldn’t have_ -“  
“THAT WAS AWESOME!”  
Wincing Mono looked at her with a bit of disbelief.  
“Do you- do you really think that-“  
“GOD THAT IS INCREDIBLE! YOU CAN REALLY JUST DO THAT!? THIS IS PERFECT!” Her smile was shining white from below the shadows, before she jumped from the hood of the car onto Mono, being just barely caught in his arms from where she stared up. “The car is in fine shape! SO LET US DRIVE!”  
Unsure Mono opened the car- Six jumping in and looked around.  
The TallMono however was unsure.  
“Six… _I- I don’t know how to drive_.”  
“That’s fine, I can do it!”  
“… how-“  
“You sit down and steer, I will make sure we will be moving at TOP speed!”  
“Six!”  
“There’s the key-“  
“ _Six PLEASE_ -“  
The car roared to live, much to Mono’s dismay.  
“ _Six_!!!”  
“God, WHAT? Why are you so slow?! Get your ass in here loser, we are doing a road trip!”  
“S-“  
“IF YOU WAIT MORE MOMENT I WILL JUMP ONTO THE GASPEDAL WITHOUT YOU.”  
Promptly, without even thinking anymore, Mono sat down and before he could even attempt to say anything, the rascal jumped onto the pedal, howling in ecstasy as the exhilaration pressed both of them backwards, the Thin Man barely getting his hands onto the wheel and making a fearful noise.  
The city was rushing past them, less and less houses crowding the area, instead gardens run over with weeds were past the street now-  
“SIX! THERE ARE VIEWERS!”  
_“AW HELL YEAH!”_  
“N-NO YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND, WE’RE DRIVING RIGHT TOWARDS THEM!”  
“I SURE HOPE SO! HOW FAST ARE WE?”  
“V-VERY! WE’LL KILL THEM, WE WI- **_SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIX_** -”  
The last scream was added as the car sped up even further, Mono holding onto the wheel for dear LIFE, a few bonking noises sounded as they smashed through the crowd-  
“HOW MANY?!” Came from below.  
“H-HOW MANY W-WHAT!?”  
“HOW MANY DID WE GET!?”  
“UH- MAYBE TEN, THAT WAS REALLY-“  
“AW HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELL YEAH! NEW KILL STREAK!”  
**_“SIX WHAT THE HELL?!”_ **  
  
Eventually they left the edge of the city, driving over the land, where finally Six eased up again, mocking the bigger one for having been scared.  
Allowing the Thin Man to take over, the evil triangle crawled up to the seat and then closer to the window, looking forward at the world passing them fast.  
“Welcome to our new life, Mono!”  
“… the tank will be empty eventually- and where are we even going…?”  
“Who knows! Somewhere nice! And if the tank is empty either we walk or we find fuel. We will manage, we always have so far!”  
Quietly Mono sighed, shortly looking at his happy best friend…  
  
_… and he smiled weakly._  
  
  
-  
  
It had been an accident, brought upon him by the terrible curse of his size-  
And Six’s terribly stupid habit of CONSTANTLY WALKING BETWEEN HIS LEGS TO IN THE LAST MOMENT JUMP AWAY TO GIVE THE THIN MAN A HEART ATTACK.  
It was like a cat, or like Mono had heard cats would behave-  
He always told her to knock it off, warning her that she might could get hurt on accident if she wasn’t careful enough-  
Only to gain a laugh from the smaller being.  
“You could not even hit me if you TRIED!”  
_“I’m not! I wouldn’t ever!”_ Mono cried. “You know that!”  
“Who knows. Maybe you are EVIL now! Maybe I should WATCH OUR FOR YOU!”  
“Six please, you know that makes me feel awful!”  
“Aw. Sorry!” Happily she smiled up to him. _“But I am not going to stop and no amounts of begging will make me.”  
_Accepting his defeat, Mono just sighed and tried his best to be careful.  
_… but it came as it had to come, as fate demanded things to happen…  
… Six, while jumping around was STRUCK DOWN brutally, being VIOLENTLY smashed into the ground, probably injuring MULTIPLE ORGANS-  
_At least…  
… that was how Mono saw the scene as he called out in pure fear, kneeling down right next to beloved friend.  
“S-Six?! Can you hear me?! Oh god- oh god, Six please, please talk to me, I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have done this, I should have stopped walking, please, please just be okay, you can hate me, but PLEASE-“  
The girl in the yellow raincoat, who had been barely brushed by the side of a shoe and stumbled over, slightly rolled over and sat up, looking at him.  
Seeing his fear and regret, she immediately decided to milk it for every drop of it.  
“ _Ooouch_ …”  
“SIX! You’re alive, thank god?! Does it hurt?! I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry- is there anything- anything that I can do?! I’d do anything, I promise it won’t happen again-“  
Six rubbed her injured leg, frowning a little, until an odd, mischievous grin showed in her expression as she looked up at the distraught man. "I do know what you can do! _You could kiss me better."  
This was the last things Mono wanted to hear.  
"Jesus christ, NO Six! I can’t do that!" _Mortified and flustered he looked down at the small figure below him, who had a wide, white grin shining from out of the darkness of the coat.  
That was not an answer that satisfied the evil triangle.  
" _Why not_?"  
Feeling a sort of embarrassed fear, the Thin Man stood up, raised his arms and stepped back as though scared of his friend, trying desperately to come up with a good explanation that would rationalize the way he felt.  
_"B-because I'm TOO tall for this."_  
Close, but no cigar, Six was still fully unconvinced, raising her eyebrow. "… so?"  
Exasperated Mono raised his hands to his face, hiding behind them.  
"You don't get it, do you? You really see nothing wrong with me? Like that I'm- different?"  
The answer was as prompt as it was blunt.  
"I think you are as stupid and weird as ever.”  
“H-hey!”  
Accepting that she would have to explain her view on her friend a little bit more relatable, Six took a deep breath, readying the best comparison she could muster.  
“Okay- okay, you know what, _let us imagine for a moment_. Imagine I am tall. Really tall. Taller than you. _But I also still wear my raincoat, but it is also tall and it goes down to my feet like a robe you cannot see ANYTHING anymore_. Would you treat me different?"  
A bit weary Mono stared down at Six, reluctantly going along with the concept.  
"I- think so? You would be less fragile and-"  
" _Alright, so I, as this big, big person lean over close to you. You let me, because you think I will tell you a secret, but I do not. Instead, I bite into your nose, as harshly as I can. As you stumble back, you realize your nose came off. There's blood, blood everywhere, on the ground, on me, on you-_ "  
**_"... hey Six, quick question, what the fuck?"_**  
“ _DO NOT INTERRUPT ME! I AM TRYING TO MAKE A POINT HERE!”_ The tiny being screeched.  
_“I’M SORRY, I’M SORRY-“_  
“ _You BETTER be_. Okay, where was I- Ah right. So you are writhing in agony and I step over you and you cry, you ask me how I could do that to you. I take off the hood and your eyes widen. _It is not me. It never was me._ It was a random person in a big yellow raincoat robe. Slowly you bleed out, accepting you will die here because you simply accepted that someone who had my coat was me, except NO! THERE I AM! I COME CRASHING THROUGH THE CEILING! THE RUBBLE I BRING CRUSHES THE FIGURE! I rush off the rubble, as you think about how cool I am, then I pick up your nose and glue it to your face, my own tears being the glue. _What did we learn_?”  
_“… that I’m scared of you.”_  
“YES! But that was not the only point.” Six nodded passionately. “We learned to not judge a book by its raincoat. _Congratulation, as you stand up you gain 300 Exp and find 20 gold in a chest nearby._ ”  
Rubbing his temples, Mono stared down at her.  
He knew for a fact that he got easier tired in this body, but it felt like more had changed- and it unnerved him.  
Helpless he kneeled down to his friend.  
_“… were you always like this…?”_  
“Huh?” The way she tilted her head was killing Mono.  
“I- I mean- were you always this-“ How would he put it without getting attacked? “… _energetic_ …?”  
“Oh, totally!” Once more she beamed up at him, a gesture that caused Mono’s heartrate to pick up- something he hadn’t seen a lot back when they were traveling towards the Tower. Maybe only once. “Usually there is the constant looming threat of someone hearing or seeing me though, so being noisy is not only a risk, but also a waste of energy. I need all my energy to survive…”  
Somewhat dramatically Six paused, enjoying being watched like an authority by her friend, and taking even MORE enjoyment out of scaring the shit out of him by ripping her arms up suddenly and speaking loudly.  
“BUT NOT ANYMORE! If anybody shows up, I expect YOU to deal with it.”  
Having fallen back and straight on his back, Mono stared at her, concerned.  
“I- I’ll do my best, I’d lay down my life for you, but _\- I can’t GUARANTEE your safety!_ ”  
“What.” Disappointed the girl stared at him. “You want me to go back to being all quiet and gloomy? I CAN do that-“  
“ _NO!”_ He called out- surprised by his own intensity, which promptly caused him to feel flustered once more. “ _No… no, I don’t want you to be like that again_. I just- wanted to say it. I don’t want you to be reckless and get hurt _AGAIN_.”  
“Ah, this was but a scratch!” Smiling Six tiptoed around him, jumping a little to be more eyes to eyes with him. “I have another question for you though.”  
Not bothering standing up, Mono stayed focused. “… yeah?”  
_“You said you would lay down your life for me. Is that true?”_  
“Of course it is! We’re friends- and why would I say something that isn’t true?!”  
“Okay. Then…” She brought some space between them, giving Mono roughly half a second to realize something upsetting was coming. _“… why are you so upset that I dropped you down the Tower?”  
_Infuriated Mono sat up straighter, trying to tower over Six, feeling beyond attacked.  
“THAT’S SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!”  
“But what if I would not have survived if I would not have dropped you?”  
“THEN YOU SHOULD’VE TOLD ME! I WOULD HAVE JUMPED FOR YOU. I-“ Catching himself in the last moment before saying something embarrassing, his voice sounded a little choked below his hands that he was pressing against his face.  
“What was that?” Pleased Six smiled. She knew the answer.  
_“… I care for you a lot.”_  
“That wasn’t QUITE what you said, but… close enough!”  
_“Why do you do this to me...”_  
“You look funny when you are mad!”  
“Mad!? You think I’m MAD?!”  
Raising her eyebrow, Six stared at him. “… I mean… you sound m-“  
“I’m in PAIN, Six! You’re TORTURING me!”  
He seemed fairly close to tears, causing Six to cross her arms and slightly turn away.  
“… well, well, well, look who talks about torture. Remember when you super scarily KIDNAPPED me?!”  
“I do and I’m sorry…” Hanging his head he accepted that he brought this fate upon himself.  
“Yeah. Retribution! _Now you are MY hostage_!”  
“Wait, wh-“  
_“I have UNO REVERSED you.”_  
“Wh-what does that mean-“  
“I AM THE KIDNAPPER NOW.” _  
_ “ _Six please-“_  
The Thin Man was instantly shut up as Six pointed up at him, teeth shining. “AND NOW! Now you will pick me up and put me on your hat.”  
“ _Okay_ …“  
All Mono wanted was for the situation to be over so he could rest his overheated brain.  
Reaching down, he allowed Six to climb on his hand as though it was a little platform, raising her up to his hat, where she promptly got comfortable.  
“Good work, prisoner. Now ONWARDS MY NOBLE STEED!”  
Slightly rolling his eyes, the Thin Man shook his head, feeling a little tired and upset.  
_“When has my life become so miserable.”  
_It was barely but a mumble, however Six was extremely alert, her senses excellent.  
Mono almost jumped when he saw Six leaning in front of his face from above- a gesture that would have absolutely thrown her down.  
For once the girl in the yellow raincoat sounded concerned.  
_“… are you miserable, Mono?”  
_Unsure he looked at her.  
Should he lie?  
Should he tell the truth?  
Was this even something Six should be burdened with?  
It felt like everything was his responsibility now- it had been like that back then too, but back then it felt like at least to some degree Six could compare to him. Now that his strength has increased exponentially, his worry had too.  
… then again, this WAS _Six_ , with an incredibly strong mind and knowledge that somehow even reached above his own.  
_“… a little bit. I think. I’m just scared… everything is so different now. Back then we were just small and scared, but we KNEW what we could do. I don’t know what I’m capable of anymore, Six. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”_  
“The Signal Tower was not the right place for you either.” Six scoffed.  
“Yes, but- but at least I KNEW what was happening!”  
As a panic attack was slowly approaching, Mono could feel himself tense up and shake. He wanted to go back. He wanted to feel like himself again.  
The very firm, but gentle voice of Six sounded, bringing him back to reality.  
“What are you scared of the most right now.”  
“I-“  
“Only one thing. Close your eyes, think a little. _I can help you_.”  
Doing as told, the Thin Man took a few deep breaths, attempting to relax and think properly.  
“… I think I’m most scared of…”  
The world was crumbling, most people were INSANE, he LOOKED like some of those insane people, Six was in danger, Six would-  
_“… I think I’m most scared of disappointing you_.” Mono admitted, somberly. “When we left you looked at me like I’m now the solution to all your problems and I- I want to be that! I SHOULD be that! But- what if I can’t?”  
And if he couldn’t, what if at some point, Six was just gone again?  
Looking at him seriously, Six nodded.  
“I see, I can fully understand where your fears come from, they are nothing to be ashamed of… _but I also think they are absolutely idiotic and insulting to both yourself and me.”  
“Wh-what?”_  
“Look. Mono. I know you are not the solution to all my problems. Nothing would be. As soon as one problem is solved, two more pop up. Sometimes a new problem IS the answer to an old problem. And when it comes to what you can do and all that- it is true, you are capable and strong.”  
“ _I am capable and strong_.” Quietly Mono repeated, doubting it.  
“RIGHT. But being capable and strong does NOT mean being capable and strong ALL the time. Sometimes, you cannot do things. And sometimes you cannot do things that you usually can and that is okay! It does not take away from all the good you did so far!” Determined she stared at him, her fiery expression being slightly visible in the shadows. “I mean- look at me! I am ALSO capable and strong! But sometimes I cannot do things. Or I get scared. _Or I mess up. Make a wrong judgement call and drop my best friend to his doom.”  
_Mono scoffed, anger bubbling up again.  
And Six smiled.  
“… _I like seeing you angry and flustered more than seeing you so sad and hopeless_. Anger means you know something was not right, you deserved better. Someone who is angry wants change. And someone who wants change wants to live, to continue. So- keep being angry at me.”  
Reaching up, the Thin Man grabbed his small friend who’s protest went ignored and hugged her tightly against his chest.  
_“… you make it hard for me to be angry at you when you say stuff like that.”  
_“I _can_ call you a cunt if that makes it easier!” Helpful Six offered.  
“You know what, it’s actually not THAT hard to be upset with you, don’t bother.” Squeezing her tighter, Mono stared at her in his arms, at the small, smug face and mischievous expression. “… as punishment I’m going to carry you like this for a while.”  
“What?! NO! STOP! I WANT TO GO BACK ON THE HAT!”  
_“You lost your hat-privileges, young lady!”_  
“HOW COULD LIFE BE SO CRUEL!?”  
Mono chuckled and Six could feel it through his chest, her smile widening even further as she looked up affectionate.  
  
_He was sadder.  
He was taller.  
He was a bit more screwed up in the head.  
But this was still her friend Mono and she cared for him a lot.  
  
_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There’s more I wanna write about this, like Six stealing Mono’s hat and feeling all cool with it, them holding hands and Six dragging her friend along who has to make himself small to be able to keep holding her hand, or perhaps them encountering someone more hostile (I got to talk to someone about their really neat OC and I might add that!)  
> In the (cancelled) comics it’s implied there are more towns out there in the world, so I like to imagine at some point they find somewhere to stay.
> 
> … also this almost makes me want to write the opposite of the Lady going to the Tower because something is going wrong with the loop, only to find crying Mono there who is sure that the Thin Man kidnapped his friend and taken her further away, having no idea of anything and THEM teaming up to get them back… (of course, the Lady mainly coming along to try and save the loop, using the poor younger Mono like she used to- EXCEPT SHE WOULD START FEELING GUILT ABOUT IT AND-  
> Urgh I need to stop.)
> 
> Anyways, hope you’re having a great day, until next time!


	17. Sweet Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Six lives a pretty good life all things considered.  
> Sure, she isn’t the best at school, but she’s doing fine, she has nothing to worry about and gets away with terrible things.  
> And sure, she isn’t really friends with anyone, but nobody dares to mess with her and that’s good enough.  
> Now- there’s a new transfer student who seems oddly interested in her.  
> But when things go quiet, when she lays in bed in the evening, it feels like something is wrong.  
> … and she is very sure a shadow is not supposed to do the things hers does.
> 
> The Lady lives a pretty good life all things considered.  
> Sure, her restaurant isn’t overflowing, but that added to the atmosphere, it was how she preferred.  
> And sure, her “best” employee tended to always assume the worst of her, but he did his work well and that’s good enough.  
> Now- the best Private Investigator of the city, known only as “The Thin Man”, being so private that he didn’t even share his name, had decided to become a regular in her restaurant.  
> But when things go quiet, when she lays in bed in the evening, it feels like something is wrong.  
> … and she's pretty sure her lack of memory as to what she has done before this wasn’t normal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My first original AU (at least I hope it’s original), born out of me wondering what the TVs DID to people to keep them like that. Offering a happy ending, the twitter said, but… how?  
> To offer a happy ending, you have to offer them a story.  
> And “the time is fragmented, it’s like a TV show”, the concept that everyone THINKS they’re doing something normal, just their job, not seeing how twisted it us in the reality-  
> So why not? Their minds are all captured in a TV show. They fully transition to the show when they disappear, which makes them part of the Signal Tower while their souls are having a good time.  
> Conductor of it all is the Thin Man, because- look, this is something I can imagine Mono being willing to stay in the Tower for, in order to keep the fantasy alive and making everyone happy.  
> In such a world, the reason Mono wouldn’t have entranced Six with the TV would be his desire to keep her around, because well- it IS his best friend and he hates being alone.
> 
> In this AU his “job” is Private Investigator because SHOUTOUT TO THIS VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oQ1Mn4vpWw  
> Made by Tericho, he looks into the artwork and scrapped concepts and I LOVE it. Highly recommending!
> 
> WARNINGS:  
> Mono/Six in all their forms (time is now fully fucked, thanks Mono, thanks eye), Unreality (not sure if it has to be tagged only when it talks about a pretend for our world, but just in case), some gaslighting from Mono as he tries to convince Six that EVERYTHING is okay and technically kidnapping.  
> If I have to add something, do tell.  
> ENJOY!

Sitting.  
But not listening.  
_Running, running away, through the checkered floors, porcelain children rushing after her, Six pushing herself through a vent, trying hard to get away, because they were monsters, they not human, they were-_  
“ _Six_!”   
Snapping her out of her daydream, she turned to the side a little bit disgruntled, starting at Seven beside her.  
“ _What_.”  
“ _You’re mumbling to yourself again_!” Quietly he complained at her. “ _I don’t care that you’re going crazy, but I don’t want the teacher to think that we’re talking_!”  
“Well then how about you be quiet?! I get to mumble to myself if I LIKE to!”  
A loud voice made both of them jump.  
“SIX. SEVEN. Do you have something to share with the class?”  
“Six is insane.” Seven said, not too quiet-  
The class laughed.  
“Antagonizing me will not make you any less of a loser. Nobody here likes you, Seven!”  
Another set of giggles, but the Teacher seemed to have enough.  
“It’s always the same with you. Out, both of you! And NEITHER leaves the hall until I get to talk to you!”  
“Yes Mrs…” Both of them mumbled, giving each other a glare.  
Each firmly blaming the other.  
And as soon as the door closed behind them, they started up again right where they left off again.  
“ _See what you did, Six?!”  
“You were the one who started talking to me!”  
“Yeah, because you were mumbling!”_  
“Maybe you should just have LET me mumble. At least then only I would have gotten in trouble!”  
“What were you even mumbling about?”  
“I do not know.” Six huffed. “You think I was paying attention to my mouth?”  
“Then- what were you THINKING about?!”  
“None of your business, weirdo.”  
“You LITERALLY made it my business when you got me kicked out of class!”  
Pausing, the girl stared at the Runaway Kid.  
She wasn’t sure if she wanted to answer, but-  
_How could she explain? The twisted school, the children made out of lifeless material, the memories of-  
Wait, memo-  
**The thought of an axe, crushing through wood, vivid and bright.  
**_Six turned around, abruptly, wide-eyed-  
_A boy stood down the hall, staring at them.  
_He was wearing a bag over his head, yet somehow Six KNEW he was smiling.  
As soon as he was looked at, he skipped over, his smiling intensifying, as though his entire being was made out of happiness.  
“Hello you two!”  
_“Why are you wearing a bag over your head?”_  
The boy seemed a bit confused about getting such a greeting.  
“… because I like it? A-and it helps me a little with my- social anxiety.”  
Slightly Six frowned.  
However, she didn’t know enough about social anxiety to know if it would help or not- so instead she simply shrugged, turning away.  
Seven looked at her- then at the new kid.  
“Urgh, ignore her, she’s a pain in the ass. My name is Seven, what is yours? I haven’t seen you around here.”  
“I’m Mono! I’m new here.” He laughed a little, before turning again, to look at the girl in the yellow raincoat. “… you seem to be a bad mood! Did something happen?”  
_“I never met my parents, I have violent outburst, I constantly space out, I have a vile imagination.”_ Promptly Six told the newbie, Seven shuddering next to her.  
“God… _sorry Mono, I know what you’re trying to do, she’s really a lost case_.”  
“I don’t think anyone is ever a lost case.” His words were gentle, and warm.  
_“Wow, you’ll die young here_.” Seven said very matter of fact-ly-  
_Before freezing.  
He and Six exchanged a look and for a second, Seven’s eyes were wide and hunted-  
_Then he laughed, nervously.  
“Oh god, Six’s morbid imagination is infecting me. See?! Another reason not to hang out with her! You’ll get messed up.”  
“I think it was funny!” Playfully clapping his hands Mono smiled.  
“ _Two weirdos_. God have mercy on my SOUL!” Turning away, the Runaway Kid rubbed his head. “I’m not dealing with this-“  
The bell rang.  
Immediately the three kids jumped out of the way as the doors smashed open and a flurry of kids ran out, screaming and laughing, beyond happy about finally being allowed to go out and play.  
It didn’t take long, not long at all, until the newly formed group were the only children left- the hallways were very noisy, it was all far away however.  
Finally, the Teacher stepped out, she smiled, but her expression looked annoyed more than anything else.  
“You two. I cannot BELIEVE it, this must have been the third time this week- and it is only Tuesday! If you continue this, I’ll HAVE to-“  
“Uh- Mrs.?” Friendly Mono called out.  
The Teacher was broken out of her annoyance, looking at the young boy.  
“Oh. Oooooh, the new student… Mono! Yes, yes, did you get to know the school a little?”  
“Yes, ma’am!”  
“Fantastic.” Looking at the other two, she shook her head. “… I think we are done here.”  
“Mrs. Teacher-“ Seven called out. “Can I finally switch seats somewhere else?! I’m sick of sitting next to her! I want to pay attention in class.”  
Immediately Mono spoke up. “Then I would love to sit next to her instead!”  
_There was something wrong about what was going on.  
Six felt it in her bones.  
‘Instead.’  
As if she- knew that he was sitting in the very corner, in the back with only one place beside her-  
_Maybe he was guessing. It wasn’t that hard to guess from the way she had acted so far…  
Or maybe by the fact that- a chair had to go free- but why instead then-  
_Was that- right?  
_Out of the corner of her eyes she spotted her shadow.  
Which was weird.  
The lights didn’t align right for that to-  
“Six?”  
“Huh!?” Snapping out of her thoughts Six stared up into the Teacher’s stern face. “I- spaced out.”  
“You always do! God- perhaps the new student can fix your attitude, we know nothing else has managed to so far!”  
“… are you not concerned that I will mess the new student up? Be a bad influence?”  
Again it was deathly silence.  
It was as though they haven’t thought about that possibility _\- as though some sort of background music had abruptly cut off, leaving them all-  
_The moment passed as Mono laughed. “I think I have a pretty good grip on myself, you won’t be influencing me. And I don’t want you to sit alone either if he sits away from you!”  
“Maybe I would LIKE to sit alone.” Six growled.  
_“Nobody likes to sit alone! It’s actually hell.”_ Confidently Mono said.  
“Maybe my name is nobody. Have you ever thought of that?!”  
With that she stormed off, going back home.  
She still could feel those eyes stare at her, those eyes from the depths of the paperbag-  
  
_The feeling didn’t leave her the whole way home._  
  
As she walked along the shore, the feeling was getting a bit stronger-  
Slowly she turned around.  
The shore was open and wide, the sand under her feet would make it hard to run if she had to.  
Slowly her eyes wandered.  
_… nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing…  
The beach was empty._  
Nothing.  
Slowly she sighed in relief, moving two to three steps-  
Then she turned around on the spot, ready to attack whoever was following her.  
_A thin man.  
Far, far away._  
_He blended in with the place around him._  
… only the smoke.  
The smoke was obvious.  
… he was further away than Six had expected him to be, usually her instincts were pretty good when it came to where people were-  
_Wait.  
Were they?  
She couldn’t- think of a single instance she would have needed this instinct.  
_Hesitantly she stared at the man… raising a hand for an unsure wave.  
The man in the distance didn’t move for a while-  
Then he waved back.  
Finally Six turned around for good, moving on, trying not to rush, but still speeding along.  
Getting some energy out.  
When she came to the hut in the wood, her more or less adoptive dad was at the table, sewing something up- she didn’t really care to ask what it was.  
“Hi.” Quietly Six greeted him.  
The Hunter didn’t say anything but looked up, raising a hand to greet the kid he had taken in.  
“I will be in my room for now, I do not think I will go out today.”  
The Hunter nodded.  
“I will get myself something to eat later, so do not worry about me.”  
Once more the Hunter nodded, gently tapping on the side of the table-  
Slightly Six smiled, but shook his head.  
“I… really am tired, I will not be sitting with you today. But thank you!”  
Leaving to the upstairs, Six opened the door and threw herself onto his bed, staring up at the ceiling.  
She liked sleeping. Quite a bit.  
It helped distract her from all the weird things that were going on.  
The next day, things somehow managed to feel more sensible and coherent.  
Slightly frowning, she thought about today though.  
The weird memories-  
_Imaginations,_ she corrected herself.  
And this new guy who simply came in and decided to get himself seated beside her.  
While trying to figure it all out…  
_… she slipped away._  
  
**_This wasn’t going well.  
He was messing up.  
He didn’t know what to do with her.  
Too aware. Too stubborn.  
But he had to try, for her sake._**  
  
  
The Geisha of the Maw yawned as she rose up, stretching herself.  
The sun was shining through the window, high above the Pale City, where she had taken residence.  
Two oceans surrounded his building-  
One made out of water… one made out of concrete.  
And both were tainted golden by the wonderful day.  
After readying herself and going through her morning performance, humming a little to herself as she brushed her long hair. Everything was a performance in the Geisha’s life, and she was proud of it.  
Her restaurant was highly esteemed, because of it!  
There was a special kind of atmosphere to it, that made it feel exclusive and private-  
_Perhaps actually too much so, seeing as only ever a handful of guests entered at any given time.  
_It got better on the weekends, however… _  
_ … _no_.  
No, no, she liked it.  
She liked it being quiet.  
Plus, to be honest, her employees could only do so much, two chefs, one server and one janitor...  
_… what an odd combination of staff.  
And yet the restaurant was running, almost like by itself.  
…  
_… well, would you look at the time!  
She had to make her way to work!  
As soon as she arrived, the place flared to life, the soft lights around lighting up and the air being cooled down properly. Even the water in the small fountains was beginning to gush, giving a nice sound to the entire place.  
The Geisha had always enjoyed the sound of water.  
It didn’t take long for her other employees to arrive and for the main part of her day to begin.  
  
Her employee, Seven, was staring at the uniform.  
“We need to change these already.”  
“Why? I think they are very stylish. They give this place a touch of… surrealism. People like it.”  
“If they WOULD, they would probably appear in bigger numbers, wouldn’t they?!” He raised up the white and grey cap, with the pointy, high tip. “I hate it.”  
“You can see through it, you can talk through it, and it is on brand for this place. _Now put it on Seven_.”  
With a groan the younger man put on the cap- _if he minded them so much, why hadn’t they talked before, why were they talking now, that made no_ \- and began bringing the plates the tables of the guests.  
High ranking people.  
_None of which Six cared about._  
There was better company than these people- and they didn’t care about the people employed.  
They wanted their food and they wanted to do their business.  
No entertainment, only food, something that was somewhat insulting to the Geisha.  
If someone were to ask her, she would say she was wasting her talents here…  
… but… at least she had her place.  
_Her home.  
The place she could control from top to bottom._  
An easy day, with a few chats here and there, being pleasant enough, singing occasionally by request, sharing the vast knowledge that she had gathered over the long time she had been educating herself.  
_This was a place of culture and mindfulness, a place far away from the busy lives in the streets-  
To a point that she was fully willing to kick out anyone destroying the serenity.  
_Thankfully, that didn’t happen all too often.  
Maybe because that ALSO was popular knowledge.  
And…  
_… that in turn could be why her restaurant wasn’t as popular as it **should** have been._  
Relaxing behind the bar the Geisha looked out.  
She was a more modern kind of Geisha… and yet as traditional as she could be.  
The day passed by, the place becoming as always busier the later it got. The Nome ran back and forth, he was GOOD at running…  
_… always had been._  
Six recalled when he was younger, in school, Seven could not throw, Seven could not fight, and Seven was not an exceptional team player- but by GOD could he run, which is why he never was picked last.  
Neither was Six.  
That might have been everyone’s fear however- but then again, who recalled that.  
It had been long.  
  
In Six’s mind it went quiet.  
  
_… had it been long?  
It didn’t feel like it.  
And how did Seven even end up working for her, he HATED her-_  
  
The doors swung open and by the way the floors were creaking, it was immediately obvious there was a newcomer, a first-timer… over time, the people learned which steps to avoid, as the creaking and borderline chirping WASN’T quite and subtle at all, by design.  
Everyone turned to the person disturbing the peace- and it was only natural, because he was quite something to look at.  
He was tall, almost unnaturally so.  
God, he had to lean down a little to get through the restaurant’s door!  
And that wasn’t the only remarkable thing about this man however.  
He had a tailored suit and was all in grey, even his face seemed colorless, a little bit like stone. A deep shadow was casted over his eyes, giving him an almost inapproachable, emotionless appearance.  
This man was the best-  
_(Only)_  
\- Private Investigator of the Pale City.  
He was in fact so discrete, that nobody even knew his real name. They all simply called him “The Thin Man”- but most people, children and adults alike, looked up to him.  
After all, he had done heroic acts- something about…  
_… no, right now Six couldn’t recall what it was.  
_Well, perhaps he would tell her himself.  
Some patrons were chatty.  
_… even if this one certainly didn’t look like it._  
Sitting down at the bar, their eyes met for a moment-  
Huh.  
_The eyes were much softer than she expected them to be.  
And much more familiar too._  
Turning away abruptly, as though she couldn’t bear looking into these eyes, the Geisha began fixing him a cup of tea.  
Without even having him order.  
_That was- rude?_  
However, as she had looked back at him, the man slowly nodded in approval.  
Serving him the tea, he carefully picked it up to his lips, didn’t drink yet though.  
  
For the next while, the Geisha tried to serve customers as usual.  
_Not easy with this peculiar guest._  
“… Geisha, I think he has been looking at you for a while now-“  
“I know.” Glancing up she made eye contact with him.  
Looking at him somehow infuriated her a little. But-  
_“… looking at people is not outlawed.”  
_“Do you two know each other?” Curious the guy in the Nome-hat looked at the investigator.  
“… not that I would know.”  
“Then why-“  
_“I told you I do not KNOW.”_  
Moving away quickly before being faced with Six’s wrath, he rushed to return to his work-  
And as he did, the Thin Man stood up, tipping his hat at the Lady of the establishment, before sitting down in front of her and starting a conversation.  
“… is it normal for your floorboards to creek or did I come at an inopportune time?”  
His words were quiet and polite, even if Six tried with all her power to misinterpret his words.  
“… what are you trying to imply?”  
“Everything here seems so… intentional. I was wondering if this was another part of the design- even if it had been a silly question. I’m sorry.”  
Staring at him, Six slowly started to relax behind the bar.  
_“… why, by chance, yes._ It was intentional. This type of floor is called uguisubari, or in English the Nightingale floors… named quite obviously after the chirping sound it creates. It is said to be used as some sort of security system, as people familiar with the area would be able to avoid these rigged floorboards, while a thief, a stranger would certainly step on one or two of them, alerting everyone.”  
A slight smile was crossing the grey face.  
A smile that the masked woman couldn’t understand.  
“… why, look at you, you can smile.” Snarky Six stared him down.  
_“Did I do something to you?”  
_The question came quietly.  
_“You act as though I’ve wronged you.”_  
“How do you determined that, Mr. Detective?”  
“The name is Mono...”  
That caught the Geisha off guard. Before she could say something, the well-dressed man leaned in, smiling the slightest bit again.  
_“… I expect you to keep this a secret.”_  
Still mentally stumbling, the Geisha frowned under her mask. “Mono- like the new student-?”  
It went silent.  
Then Mono tilted his head.  
“Who?”  
Feeling a sense of distress growing inside of her, Six stumbled backwards physically this time, away from the Thin Man, who stood up and for a second, _for a split second she was sure the man would grab her, grab her and drag her into the screen-  
_“Milady?”  
The moment was gone and the Geisha frowned, trying to remember what she had just been thinking about that was filling her with such dread. “Y-yes? Mono. I see. I am honored to be gifted a secret like this.”  
“I like to think that I’m a good judge of character. While you would potentially backstab me if you considered it beneficial to you, you won’t share this name. _You’re a peculiar person, Geisha_ …”  
Somewhat offended, she tilted her head.  
_“Why are you so sure about this. What about me would give such an indication?”_  
“Oh… it is… your voice… the way you lean over… I have been watching you for a while, I tend to watch most people coming past my office.”  
“Your office? Where is that?”  
Pointing down, the Geisha realized that they worked- or lived- inside the same building.  
_Wait, wait, how couldn’t she have known that, if this world-famous detective lived here, weren’t there a ton of people trying to get a meeting with him about things-_  
“Ah. I suppose I never have paid attention to that.” Causally the Lady shrugged her shoulders. “But this is interesting to know. Perhaps I should have more of an eye on you too, Mr. Detective.”  
_“I would see it as a compliment.”_ Standing up, he once slightly bowed and put down his bill. “I will return tomorrow _. I have hopes that we can talk again. I would like to know more about all the different secrets hiding within your establishment...”_  
“It sounds like you are suspecting me of something, Mr. Detective.”  
“You’re a person of many talents, Geisha, with a capable mind, equally as sharp of a tool. I’m not suspecting you of anything so far… but who knows what you might be capable of.”  
“… of stabbing you in the back, according to you.”  
Once more a small smile appeared on the almost fully turned away face, this time there was something different in it though.  
_“But that is nothing new, Milady. I’m looking out for something else.”_  
With that Mono turned fully and walked out.  
What an odd man.  
  
Before so long, the Geisha realized it was late and time to close up, as Seven was standing in front of her, slightly weary.  
“… Geisha? Can I go now? Everything is clean and locked up.”  
“What? Oh. Of course. Good work today, Seven.”  
She could have sworn not that much time had passed after the Thin Man left, but… it seemed like she had been spacing out again.  
With a yawn, she got ready to bed.  
_She liked sleeping. Quite a bit.  
It helped distract her from all the weird things that were going on.  
The next day, things somehow managed to feel more sensible and coherent._  
Slightly frowning, she thought about today though.  
The weird memories-  
_Imaginations,_ she corrected herself.  
And this new guy who simply came in and decided to get himself seated in front of her.  
While trying to figure it all out…  
_… she slipped away._  
  
  
  
As she woke up, Six stretched her arms, wishing to stay a while longer- but accepting that it wouldn’t be feasible.  
So instead she prepared for the long day ahead of her.  
  
When she arrived at school, she looked about.  
Most of the kids kept away from her, they always did.  
Aside from the bullies of course.  
And two of them came up to her.  
“Heyyyyyyyy Sixyyyyyy!”  
_“Shut up.”_  
“I heard you got in trouble with the teacher yesterday, for being insane!”  
_“If I am insane, then perhaps you should keep you distance.”  
_“Yeah, you might be-“  
Before Benny could finish the sentence, a certain paperbagged boy showed up.  
“HEY!” He called, angrily. “What are you doing to my friend?!”  
“Ooooooh, the new boy! Here to protect your giiiiiiiiirlfrieeeeeend?”  
“Wh-what? No!” Flustered Mono moved backwards. “I just- what you’re doing is mean! You should stop!”  
Jennifor and Benny looked at each other, then laughed, rushing away.  
“SIX AND MONO, SIX AND MONO, SIX AND MONO-“  
“N-NOOOOO!”  
They were gone already though.  
Apologetic Mono turned to his newfound friend.  
“I- made it worse, didn’t I? _I’m sorry_.” He genuinely looked miserable.  
_“… it’s okay.”_  
Six mumbled, patting his shoulder.  
“You did-“  
_Everything right.  
You did everything right.  
**Like it was all set up just for this reaction.  
**_Six’s shadow shuddered and she turned to try and look at it-  
But Mono distracted her.  
“Why are they so mean?!”  
“I do not know.” She shrugged. “Some people are just shit.”  
“… well- then I’m guess I’m glad that you were the first person I met, because you’re not!” Sweetly he smiled, then the bell rang, making them both jump.  
Taking her hand, Mono dragged her along.  
“Okay, I was told that I’m supposed to try and be a positive influence on you, so- come to class, hurry!”  
Once more a lot of thoughts simply went missing.  
  
  
  
  
  
_The Pale City creaked-  
But it was sleeping.  
They all were dreaming, **together**.  
_In front of a TV sat a flicking figure.  
It didn’t seem quite anchored in reality, her eyes unfocused as she faded in and out with the static.  
In the door stood a tall figure, or maybe a tiny one-  
_At some point everything had fused, it hardly mattered._  
If Six was captured, then the Geisha was captured and had always been captured from the very beginning that didn’t exist.  
Slowly he reached out for Six.  
_“I’m sorry. But this is the only way for everyone to be happy. The Signal Tower… it wasn’t ALL bad after all. It can give us THIS…”_  
Gently he petted through his old friend’s hair.  
_“… do me a favor and don’t ruin this… okay? Just be happy. I’ll give you what you want. I’ll fulfill your wishes… just quit struggling so much.”  
_With a pained sigh, he once more adjusted the signal of the TV, creating details were there were none before.  
_It would be okay._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure if or how I'll continue it (hell, maybe in it's own fic, but I'm bit afraid of writing a long-fic, especially with no end in mind), this was more of a proof of concept- so be very honest with what you thought of it, I want to create things you guys like here! 
> 
> You know, I've been thinking, I could have this story ESPECIALLY go all kinds of fucked, because I want to lean into the escapism angle, REALLY kneel in and I know for a fact that some people fantasize about fucked up shit for escapism- which is okay! It doesn't make you bad, since people generally can differentiate between reality and fiction. But here where that line is especially blurred...?  
> Plus, I can constantly reset everything, or rather, Mono can, so if Six WOULD T H E O R E T I C A L L Y slaughter her entire class, it would be like nothing happened at all!  
> *But those are just thoughts, feel free to comment on them too*
> 
> Thanks for reading! I'll try to get something else out in a while, still gotta proof-read. It's part two of "The Beau"

**Author's Note:**

> THIS IS IT FOR NOW!  
> I hope you have enjoyed what you have seen so far! Please leave me requests if you'd like to see something specific and be detailed, so I can be accurate with what I'll end up writing! 
> 
> Hope you're having a great day and until next time!


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